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ForTHEBLIND inc.
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SIXTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
i;-' '•
OF
THE TRUSTEES
I
Perkins Institution
Massachusetts School for the Blind,
FOR THE YEAR ENDING
September 30, 1892
PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS, I4I FRANKLIN STREET 1893
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
Communication to the Secretary of State, 5
Officers of the Corporation, 6
Officers of the Institution, 7
Members of the Corporation, 8
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Corporation, .... 17
Report of the Trustees, 19
I. Number and Health of the Pupils, p. 20. — 2. The School, p. 21. — 3. Commencement Exercises, p. 28. — 4. Post-graduate Course, p. 33. — 5. Blind Deaf Mutes, p. 34. — 6. Finances, p. 35. — 7. The Printing Office, p. 36. — 8. The Workshop for Adults, p. 36. — 9. Library Building, p. 37. — 10. Repairs, p. 40. — 11. The Matron, p. 41. — 12. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, p. 42. — 13. Deaths of Mem- bers of the Corporation, p. 43.
Dedication of the New Library Building, 46
Report of the Director, 51
Introductory Remarks, p. 51. — Record of Growth, p. 52, — Health of the Inmates, p. 52. — Scheme of Education, p. 53. — Physical Cult- ure, p. 55. — Literary Department, p. 60. — Department of Music, p. 65. — Tuning Department, p. 73. — Manual Training, p. 76. — Miss Maria C. Moulton, p. 79. — The Brain of Laura Bridgman, p. 88.
Miss Mary Crocker Paddock, 94
List of the Pupils, 100
Sixth Annual Report of the Kindergarten for the Blind, 103 Officers of the Corporation, p. 105. — Officers of the Kindergarten, p. 105. — Establishment of the Kindergarten, p. 106. — Report of the Trustees, p. 107. — Care and Training of the Children, p. no. — An Important Department, p. no. — New Buildings, p. in. — Insufficiency of Funds, p. 112. — The Kindergarten in the Commencement Exercises, p. 113. — Mr. Saltonstall's Plea for the New Building, p. 114. — Willie Elizabeth Robin and Tommy Stringer, p. 117.
4
PAGE
Report of the Director, 119
Introductory Remarks, p. 119. — Construction of Two New Buildings, p. 120. — Needed Increase of the Endowment Fund, p. 125. — Mrs. Warren B. Potter Fund, p. 131. — The Central or Mam Building, p. 134. — Helen's "Tea" in Aid of the Kindergarten, p. 139. — Willie Elizabeth Robin, p. 174. — Tommy Stringer, p. 191. — Helen Keller's Plea for Tommy Stringer, p. 198. — Annual Re- ception, p. 213. — Closing Remarks, p. 218.
Report of the Matrox, 221
List of the Children, 227
Acknowledgments, 228
Treasurer's Account, 232
General Statement of Receipts and Disbursements, 234
Analysis of the Maintenance Account, 237
Kindergarten Fund Statement, 238
Printing Fund Statement, 239
Work Department — Statement, 240
Account of Property, Oct. i, 1892, 241
Financial Statement of the Kindergarten, 244
Property belonging to the Kindergarten, 245
List of Contributors to the Kindergarten Endowment Fund, . . . 245
Contributions for Current Expenses, 250
Contributions for-the Xew Building, 251
Donations and Subscriptions for Tommy Stringer 256
List of Embossed Books, 260
List of Appliances and Tangible Apparatus, 266
C0mnT0iTtata:Illj d ^^MBntlmsttts.
Perkins Institution and Massachusbtts School for the Blind, South Boston, Oct. 26, 1892.
To the Hon. Wm. M. Olin, Secretary of State, Boston.
Dear Sir: — I have the honor to transmit to you, for the use of the legislature, a copy of the sixty-first annual report of the trustees of this institution to the corporation thereof, together with that of the treasurer and the usual accompany- ing documents.
Respectfully,
M. ANAGNOS,
Secretary.
OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION.
1892-93.
SAMUEL ELIOT, LL.D., President. JOHN GUMMING S, Vice-President. EDWARD JACKSON, Treasurer. M. ANACiNOS, Secretary.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
EDWARD BROOKS.
JOHN S. DWIGHT.
WILLIAM ENDICOTT, Jr.
JOSEPH B. GLOVER.
J. THEODORE HEARD, M.D.
ANDREW P. PEABODY, D.D.
EDWARD N. PERKINS. WILLIAM L. RICHARDSON, M.D. LEVERETT SALTONSTALL. THOMAS F. TEMPLE. S. LOTHROP THORNDIKE. GEORGE W. WALES.
STANDING COMMITTEES. Monthly Visiting Committee,
■whose duty it is to visit and insf'ect the Institution at least once in each month.
1893.
January, Edward Brooks. July, . .
February, .... J. S. Dwight. August, .
March, W. Endicott, Jr. September,
April, J. B. Glover. October, .
May, .T. T. Heard. November,
June, A. P. Peabodv. December,
1893.
E. N. Perkins. W. L. Richardson. L. Saltonstall. T. F. Tbmplb. S L. Thorndike. G. W. Walks.
Committee on Education.
J. S. DWK.HT.
A. p. Peabodv, D.D. Edward Brooks.
House Committee.
E. N. Perkins. G. W. Wales. L. Saltonstall. Edward Brooks.
Committee on Finance.
S. L. Thorndike. W. Endicott, Jr. J. B. Glovbr. T. F. Temple.
Committee on Health.
J. T. Heard, M.D.
Wm. L. Richardson, M.D.
T. F. Temple.
Auditors of Accounts.
J. T. Heard, M.D. S. L. Thorndike.
OFFICERS OF THE INSTITaXJON.
DIRECTOR. M. ANAGNOS.
MEDICAL INSPECTOR.
JOHN HOM AN S, M.D.
LITERARY DEPARTMENT. Miss IDA J. PHELP.S. Miss DELLA BENNETT.
Miss MARY HOWARD. Miss SARAH M. LILLEY.
Miss CARRIE E. McMASTER. Miss FANNY" S. MARRETT.
Miss JULIA A. BOYLAN. Miss MABEL TOWNSEND.
Miss JESSIE L. LANGWORTHY. Miss JULIA K. BURNHAM.
Miss HARRIET M. MARKHAM.
Miss SARAH ELIZABETH LANE, Librarian.
Miss ALICE M. MARSHALL, Aiststant.
MI5.S MARTHA W. SAWYER, Clerk.
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC. THOMAS REEVES. W. LUTHER .STOVER
ELMER S. HOSMER. CARL BAER.MANN.
Miss FREDA A. BLACK. GEORGE W. WANT.
Miss ELIZABETH B. LANGLEY. JULIUS AKEROYD.
Miss MARY E. RILEY. E. N. LAFRICAIN.
Miss AGNES E. SNYDER. LORENZO WHITE.
Miss LOUISE LAWTON.
Music Readers.
Miss ALLIE S. KNAPP.
Miss THEODOSIA C. BENSON.
TUNING DEPARTMENT,
JOEL WEST SMITH, Instructor and Manager. GEORGE E. HART, Tuner.
DEPARTMENT OF MANUAL TRAINING.
JOHN H. WRIGHT, IVork Master. Miss MARY L. SANF(JRD, Work Mistress
JULIAN H. MA BEY, Assistant. Miss EMMA A. HOUGHTON, Assistant.
THOMAS CARROLL, Assistant. Miss FLORA J. McNABB, Assistant Miss SOLVI GREVE, Sloyd Teacher.
WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS.
EUGENE C. HOWARD, Manager. Miss M. A. DWELLY, Forewoman.
PLINY MORRILL, Foreman. Miss ESTELLE M. MENDUM, Clerk.
DOMESTIC DEPARTMENT.
Steward. Housekeepers in the Cottages.
ANTHONY W. BOWDEN. Mrs. M. A. KNOWLTON.
Mrs. L. S. SMITH.
Matrons. Miss BESSIE WOOD.
Miss MARIA! C. MOULTON. Mrs. SOPHIA C. HOPKINS
Miss P. N. ANDREWS, Acting Matro,t.Q Mrs. [SARAHIiA. STOVER, Assistant.
PRINTING DEPARTMENT.
DENNIS A. REARDON, Manager.
Mrs. LIZZIE L. TALBOT, Printer. Miss LITA] WESTON, Printer.
Miss ELLEN B. WEBSTER, Book-keeper.
MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION.
All persons who have contributed twenty-five dollars to the funds of the institution, all who have served as trustees or treasurer, and all who have been elected by special vote, are members.
Adams, John A., Pawtucket, R.I.
Agassiz, Mrs. E. C, Cambridge.
Alden, Mrs. Sara B., Boston.
Alger, Rev. William R., Boston.
Ames, Frederick L., Boston.
Ames, Oliver, Boston.
Amory, C. W., Boston.
Amory, Mrs. William, Boston.
Anagnos, M., Boston.
Anderson, Mrs. John F., Boston.
Appleton, Mrs. Randolph M., New- York.
Appleton, Mrs. William, Boston.
Apthorp, William F., Boston.
Atkins, Mrs. Elisha, Boston.
Atkinson, Edward, Boston.
Austin, Edward, Boston.
Aylesworth, H. B., Providence.
Bacon, Edwin M., Boston.
Bacon, Mrs. E. P., Boston.
Baker, Mrs. Ezra H., Boston.
Baker, Miss M. K., Boston.
Baker, Mrs. Richard, Jr., Boston.
Balch, F. v., Boston.
Baldwin, Simeon E., New Haven, Conn.
Baldwin, William H., Boston.
Balfour, Miss Mary D., Charles- town.
Ballard, Miss E., Boston.
Barbour, E. D., Boston. Barrett, William E., Boston. Barstow, Amos C, I'rovidence. Bartlett, Miss Elvira, Boston. Bartlett, Francis, Boston. Bartlett, Miss F., Boston. Bartlett, Mrs. Mary E., Boston. Bartlett, Miss Mary F., Boston. Bartol, Rev. Cyrus A., Boston. Bartol, Miss Mary, Boston. Barrows, Rev. S. J., Dorchester. Barrows, Mrs. S. J., Dorchester. Bates, Arlo, Boston. Baylies, Mrs. Charlotte A., Boston. Beach, Rev. D. N., Cambridge. Beal, James H.. Boston. Beard, Hon. Alanson W., Boston. Beckwith, Miss A. G., Providence. Beckwith, Mrs. T., Providence. Beebe, E. Pierson, Boston. Beebe, J. Arthur, Boston. Beebe, Mrs. J. Arthur, Boston. Bigelow, Mrs. Prescott, Boston. Binney, William, Providence. Black, George N., Boston. Blake, Mrs. George B., Boston. Blanchard, G. D. B., Maiden. Boardman, Miss Cornelia B., Bos- ton. Bourn, Hon. A. O., Bristol, R.I.
Bouvc. Thomas T., Boston. Bowditch, Dr. H. P., Jamaica Plain. Bowditch, Mrs. J. I., Boston. Bowker, Cliarles F., Boston. Boyden. Mrs. Charles, Boston. Brackett, Mrs, Henry, Boston. Brackett, Miss Nancy, Boston. Bradlee, F. H., Boston. Bradlee, Miss Helen C, Boston. Brimmer, Hon. Martin, Boston. Brimmer, Mrs. Martin, Boston. Brooke, Rev. Stopford W., Boston. Brooks, Edward, Hyde Park. Brooks, Rev. (ieo.W., Charlestown. Brooks, Peter C, Boston. Brooks, Rt. Rev. I'hillips, Boston. Brooks, Shepherd, Boston. Brown, B. F., Boston. Brown, Miss H. Louisa, Boston. Brown, Mrs, John C, Providence. Browne, A. J'arker, Boston. Browne, Miss H. T., Boston. BuUard, William S., Boston. Billiard, .Mrs. William S., Boston. Bullock, Miss Julia. Providence. Bumstead, Mrs. Freeman J., Cam- bridge. Bundy, James J., Providence. Burgess, Mrs, S. K., Brookline. Burnett, Joseph, Boston. Burnham, Mrs. John A., I^ton. Burnham, William A., Boston. Burton, J. W., M.D., Flushing, N.Y. Cabot, Walter C, Boston. Callender, Walter, Providence. Carey, The Misses, Cambridge. Carpenter, Charles E., Providence. Carter, John W., West Newton. Carter, Mrs.John W:, WestNewton. Car\^, Miss A. P., Boston. Cary, Miss Ellen G., Boston. Cary, Mrs. Richard, Boston. Case, Mrs. Laura L., Boston. Cass, Mrs. D. S., Boston. Center, Joseph H., Boston. Chace, James H., Valley Falls, R.L
Chace, Hon. Jonathan, X'allev Kalis,
R.I. Chadwick, Mrs. C. C, Boston. Chamberlin, Joseph Edgar, Boston. Chamberlin, E. D., Boston. Chapin, E. P., Providence. Charles, Mrs. Mary C, Melrose. Cheever, Miss A. M., Boston. Cheever, Dr. David W., Boston. Cheever, Miss M. E., Boston. Cheney, Benjamin P., Boston. Chickering, George H., Boston. Chickering, Mrs. Sarah M., Joy
Mills, Pa. Clatlin, Hon. William, Boston. Clark, Mrs. Joseph W., Boston. Clark, Miss S. W., Beverly. Clarke, Mrs. Jas. Freeman, Boston. Clarke, James W., Boston. Clement, I-'dward H., Boston. Coatcs. James, Providence. Cobb, Mrs. P>eeman, Boston. Cobb, Samuel T., Boston. Cochrane, Alexander, Boston. Coffin, .Mrs. W. E., Boston. Colt, Samuel P., Bristol, R.I. Comstock, Andrew, Providence. Cook, Mrs.H.A., Detroit,Michigan. Coolidge, Dr. A., Boston. Coolidge, J. Randolph, Boston. Coolidge, Mrs. J. R., Boston. Coolidge, John T., Boston. Coolidge, Mrs. John T., Boston. Coolidge, Mrs. J. Templeman. Coolidge, T. Jefferson, Boston. Cotting, C. U., Boston. Cowing, Miss Grace G., Roxbury. Cowing, Mrs. Martha W., West
Roxbury. Crafts, Mrs. J. M., Boston. Crocker, U. H., Boston. Croft, Mrs. Carrie A., Boston. Crosby, Joseph B., Boston. Crosby, Sumner, Brookline. Crosby, William S. , Brookline. Cruft, Miss Harriet O., Boston.
lO
Cummings, Mrs. Annie L., Port- land, Me.
Cummings, Charles A. , Boston.
Cummings, Hon. John, Woburn.
Cunniff, Hon. M. M., Boston.
Curtis, C. A., Boston.
Curtis, Greeley S., Boston.
Curtis, Mrs. Greeley S., Boston.
Curtis, Mrs. Mary S., Boston.
Gushing, Thomas, Boston.
Dabney, Mrs. Lewis S., Boston.
Dalton, C. H., Boston.
Dalton, Mrs. C. H., Boston.
Darling, Cortes A., Providence R.I.
Darling, Hon. L. B., Pawtucket, R.I.
Davis, Miss A. W., Boston.
Davis, Mrs. Edward L., Boston.
Day, Daniel E., Providence.
Dean, Hon. Benjamin, South Bos- ton.
Derby, Miss Lucy, Boston.
Dexter, Mrs. F. G., Boston.
Dillavvay, W. E. L., Boston.
Dinsmoor, George R., Keene, X.H.
Doliber, Thomas, Boston.
Dow, Miss Jane F., Milton.
Dow, Mrs. Moses A., Brookline.
Dunklee, Mrs. John W., Boston.
Durant, William, Boston.
Dutton, Miss Lydia W., Boston.
Dutton, Miss Mary M., Boston.
Dwight, John S., Boston.
Earle, Mrs. T. K., Boston.
Eaton, W. S., Boston.
Eliot, Rev. Christopher R. Dor- chester.
Elliot, Dr. Samuel, Boston. Elliott, Mrs. Maud Howe, Boston. Ellis, Rev. George E., D.D., Bos- ton. Ellis, George H., Boston. Emery, Francis F., Boston. Emmons, J. L , Boston. Endicott, Henry, Boston.
Endicott, Miss Mary E., Beverly.
Endicott, William, Jr., Boston.
Ernst, C. W., Boston.
Evans, Mrs. Glendower, Boston.
Fairbanks, Miss C. L., Boston.
Farnam, Mrs. Ann S., New Haven.
Faulkner, Mrs. Charles, Boston.
Faulkner, Miss, Boston.
Faulkner, Miss Fannie M., Boston.
Fay, Mrs. Dudley B., Boston.
Fay, H. H., Boston.
Fay, Mrs. H. H., Boston.
Fay, Mrs. Joseph S., Jr., Boston.
Fay, Miss Sarah B., Boston.
Fay, Miss S. M., Boston.
Ferguson, Mrs. C. H., Dorchester.
Ferris, Miss E. M., Brookline.
Ferris, Mrs. Mary E., Brookline.
Field, Mrs. E. E. V., Milton.
Field, Mrs. Nancy M., Monson.
Fields, Mrs. James T., Boston.
Fiske, Miss Esther L., Boston.
Fitz, Mrs. W. Scott, Boston.
Folsom, Charles F., M.D., Boston.
Foote, Miss M. B., Cambridge.
Forbes, John M., Milton.
Foster, Miss C. P., Cambridge.
Foster, Mrs. Emily Wells, Hart- ford, Conn.
Foster, Francis C, Cambridge.
Foster, Mrs. Francis C, Cam- bridge.
Foster, John, Boston.
Freeman, Miss Harriet E., Boston.
"French, Jonathan, Boston.
Frothingham, Miss Ellen, Boston.
Frothingham, Rev. Octavius B., Boston.
Fry, Mrs. Charles, Boston.
Gaffield, Thomas, Boston.
Galloupe, C W.. Boston.
Gammell, Mrs. Wm., Providence.
Gammans, Hon. George H., Charlestown.
Gardiner, Charles P., Boston.
Gardner, George A., Boston.
1 1
Gardner, Mrs. John L.. Boston.
George, Charles H., Providence.
Gilbert, C. C, Boston.
Gill, Mrs. Francis A., Boston.
Glidden, W. T., Boston.
Glover, Albert, Boston.
Glover, Miss Caroline L., Boston.
Glover, Joseph B., Boston.
Goddard, Miss Matilda, Boston.
Goddard, T. P. I., J^rovidence.
Goddard, William, Providence.
Goff, Darius L., Pawtucket, R.I.
Goff, Lyman B., Pawtucket, R.I.
Gooding, Rev. Alfred, Portsmouth, N.H.^
Goodman, Richard, Lenox.
Goodnow, Mrs. Lucie M., Cam- bridge.
Goodwin, Miss A. M., Cambridge.
Gray, ^Irs. Ellen, New York City.
Gray, Mrs. Horace, Boston.
Green, Charles, Boston.
Greene, Edward A., Providence.
Greenleaf, Mrs. James, Cambridge.
(iriffin, S. B., Springfield.
Grover, William O., Boston.
Grover, Mrs William O., Boston.
(iuild, Mrs. S. E., Boston.
Hale, Rev. Edward E., Boston.
Hale, George S., Boston.
Hall, Mrs. Florence Howe, Plain- field, N.J.
Hall, Miss L. E., Hanover.
Hall, Mrs. L. M., Boston.
Hall, Miss Minna B,, Longwood.
Hall, Mrs. Martin L., Boston.
Hammond. Mrs. George W., Bos- ton.
Hanscom, Dr. Sanford, Somerville.
Harwood, George S., Boston.
Haskell, Edwin B., Auburndale.
Haven, Miss Charlotte M., Ports- mouth, N.H.
Haven, Miss Eliza A., Portsmouth, N.H.
Haven, Mrs. Lucy B., Lynn.
Hayward,Hon. Wm. S., Providence.
Hazard, Rowland, Providence.
Head, Charles, Boston.
Heard, J. T., M.D., Boston.
Hearst, Mrs. Phebe A., San Fran- cisco, Cal.
Hemenway, Mrs. Mary, Boston.
Henshaw, .Mrs. Harriet A., Boston.
Herford, Rev. Brooke, England.
Hersey, Charles H., Boston.
Hesseltine, Mrs. P>ancis 5., Mel- rose.
Higginson, Frederick, Brookline.
Higginson, Henry Lee, Boston.
Higginson, Mrs. Henry Lee, Bos- ton.
Higginson, Waldo, Boston.
Hill, Dr. A. S., Somerville.
Hill, Hon. Hamilton A., Boston.
Hill, J. E. R., Boston.
Hill, Mrs. T. J., Providence.
Hodges, Dr. R. M., Boston.
Hodgkins, Frank E., Somerville.
Hodgkins, William A., Somerville.
Hogg, John, Boston.
Hogg, Mrs. John, Boston.
Holmes, Charles W., Stanstead, Canada.
Holmes, John H., Boston.
Hooper, E. W., Boston.
Hooper, Mrs. R. C, Boston.
Horton. Mrs. William H., Boston.
Hovey, William A., Boston.
Howard, Hon. A. C, Boston.
Howard, Mrs. Chas. W., California.
Howard, Hon. Henry, Providence.
Howe, Henry Marion, Boston.
Howe, Mrs. Julia Ward, Boston.
Howe, Mrs. Virginia A., Boston.
Howes, Miss E., Boston.
Howland, Mrs. O. O., Boston.
Houghton, Hon. H. O., Cambridge.
Humphrey, Benjamin, Boston.
Hunnevvell, Francis W., Boston.
Hunnewell, H. H., Boston.
Hunnewell, Mrs. H. S., Boston.
12
Hutchins, Mrs. Constantine F.,
Boston, lasigi, Miss Mary V., Boston. Ingraham, Mrs. E. T., Wellesley. Jackson, Charles C, Boston. Jackson, Edward, Boston. Jackson, Mrs. Dr. J. A., Manches- ter, N.H. Jackson, Mrs. J. B. S., Boston. Jackson, Patrick T., Cambridge. James, Mrs. Clitheroe Dean, Brook- line. James, Mrs. Julia B. H., Boston. Jenks, Miss C. E., Boston. Johnson, Samuel, Boston. Jones, Mrs. Edward C, New Bed- ford.
Jones, Miss Ellen M., Boston.
Jordan, Mrs. E. D., Boston.
Joy, Mrs. Charles H., Boston.
Kasson, Rev. F. H., Boston.
Kellogg, Mrs. Eva D., New York.
Kendall, C. S., Boston.
Kendall, Miss H. W., Boston.
Kennard, INIartin P., Brookline.
Kent, Mrs. Helena M., Boston.
Kidder, Mrs. Henry P., Boston.
Kilmer, Frederick M., Somerville.
Kimball, Mrs. David P., Boston.
Kimball, Mrs. M. Day, Boston.
Knowlton, Daniel S., Boston.
Kramer, Henry C, Boston.
Lamb, Mrs. Annie L., Boston.
Lamson, Miss C. W., Dedham.
Lang, B. J., Boston.
Lang, Mrs. B. J., Boston.
Lawrence, Abbott, Boston.
Lawrence, James, Groton.
Lawrence, Mrs. James, Groton.
Lawrence, Rev. Wm., Cambridge.
Lee, George C, Boston.
Lee, Mrs. George C, Boston.
Lee, Henry, Boston.
Lily, Mrs. Amy H., London, Eng- land. • Lincoln, L. J. B., Hingham.
Linzee, J. T., Boston. Linzee, Miss Susan 1., Boston. Littell, Miss S. G., Brookline. Littlefield, Hon. A. H), Pawtucket. Lodge, Mrs. Anna C, Boston. Lodge, Henry C, Boston. Longfellow, Miss Alice M., Cam- bridge. Lord, Rev. A. N., Providence, R.L Loring, Mrs. W. Caleb, Boston. Lothrop, John, Auburndale. Lothrop, Mrs. Thornton K., Bos- ton. Lovering, Mrs. Charles T., Boston. Lovett, George L., Boston. Lowell, Abbott Lawrence, Boston. Lowell, Miss Amy, Boston.
Lowell, Augustus, Boston.
Lowell, Miss A. C, Boston.
Lowell, Francis C, Boston.
Lowell, Mrs. George G., Boston.
Lowell, Miss Georgina, Boston.
Lowell, Mrs. John, Boston.
Lowell, Miss Lucy, Boston.
Luce, Matthew, Boston.
Lyman, Arthur T., Boston.
Lyman, J. P., Boston.
Lyman, Theodore, Brookline.
McAuslan, John, Providence.
McCloy, J. A., Providence.
Mack, Thomas, Boston.
Mackay, Mrs. Frances M., Cam- bridge.
Macullar, Addison, Boston.
Manning, Mrs. Mary W., Brook- lyn, N.Y.
Marcy, Fred. L, Providence.
Marrett, Miss Helen M., Standish, Me.
Marsh, Miss Sarah L., Hingham.
Marston, S. W., Boston.
Marvin, Mrs. E. C, Boston.
Mason, Miss E. F., Boston.
Mason, Miss Ida M., Boston.
Mason, I. B., Providence.
Matthews, Mrs. A. B., Boston.
13
Matthews, Miss Alice, Boston.
Matthews, Miss Annie B., Boston.
May, F. W. C, Dorchester.
Means, Rev. J. H., D.D., Dorches- ter.
Merriam, Charles, Boston.
.\Ferriam, Mrs. Charles, Boston.
Merriam, Mrs. D., Boston.
Merritt, Edward P., Boston.
Metcalf, Jesse, Providence.
Meyer, Mrs. George von L., Bos- ton.
Mi not, Francis, M.D., Boston.
Minot, George R., Boston.
Minot, J. Grafton, Boston,
Minot, The Misses, Boston.
Minot, William, Boston.
Mixter, Miss Madeleine C, Bos- ton.
Montgomery, William, Boston.
Morgan, Eustis C, Saco, Me.
Morison, Mrs. Emily M., Boston.
Morrill, Charles J., Boston.
Morse, Mrs. Leopold, Boston.
Morse, Miss Margaret F., Jamaica
Plain. Morss, A. S., Charlestown. Morton, Edwin. Boston. Motley, Edward, Boston. Moiilton, Miss Maria C, Boston. Neai, George B., Charlestown. Nevins, David, Boston. Newell, Mrs. M. Abbie, Boston. Nichols, J. Howard, Boston. Nichols, R. C, Boston. Nickerson, Andrew, Boston. Nickerson, George, Jamaica Plain. Nickerson, Miss Priscilla, Boston. Nickerson, S. D., Boston. Norcross, Grenville H., Boston. Norcross, Miss Laura, Boston. Norcross, Mrs. Otis, Jr., Boston. Noyes, Hon. Charles J., Boston. Ober, Louis P., Boston. Oliver, Dr. Henry K., Boston. Osborn, Jolin T., Boston.
Osgood, John Felt, Boston.
Paine, .Mrs. Julia B., Boston.
Paine. Robert Treat, Boston.
Paine, Mrs, Robert Treat, Boston, I Palfrey, Mrs. Francis W., Boston. I Palfrey, J. C, Boston.
Palmer, John S., Providence.
Parker, Mrs. E, P., Boston.
Parker, E. Francis, Boston,
Parker, Richard T,, Boston.
Parkinson, John, Boston.
Parkinson, Mrs. John, Boston.
Parkman, Francis, Boston.
Parkman, George F., Boston.
Parkman, John, Boston.
Parsons, Thomas, Chelsea.
Payson, S, R., Boston.
Peabody, Rev. A. P., D.D., Cam- bridge.
Peabody, Rev. Endicott, Groton.
Peabody, F. H., Boston.
Peabody, O. W., Milton.
Peabody, Mrs. Robert S., Brook- line.
Peabody, S. E., Boston.
Pearson, Miss Abby W., Boston.
Perkins, Charles Bruen, Boston. Perkins, Mrs. C. E., Boston. Perkins, Edward N., Jamaica Plain. Perkins, Mrs. Richard, Boston. Peters, Edward D., Boston. Phillips, Mrs. John C, Boston. Pickman, Mrs. D. L., Boston. Pickman, Mrs. W. D., Boston. Pierce, Hon. H. L., Boston. Pierce, Mrs. M. V. B., Milton. Pierson, Mrs. Mary E., Windsor,
Conn. Potter, Isaac M., Providence. Potter, Mrs. Warren B., Boston. Powars, Miss Mary A., Boston. Pratt, Elliott W., Boston. Pratt, Mrs. Sarah M., Boston. Prendergast, J. M., Boston. Quincy, George Henry, Boston. Rantoul, Miss Hannah L., Beverly.
14
Reardon, Dennis A., Boston.
Reed, Mrs. William Homer, Bos- ton.
Reynolds, Walter H., Boston.
Rice, Hon. A. H., Boston.
Rice, Fitz James, Providence.
Rice, Mrs. Henry A., Boston.
Richards, Mrs. Cornelia W., Bos- ton.
Richards, Miss Elise, Boston.
Richards, Mrs. Laura E., Gardiner, Me.
Richardson, John, Boston.
Richardson, Miss M. Grace, New York.
Richardson, Mrs. M. R., Boston,
Richardson, William L., M.D., Boston.
Robbins, Royal E., Boston.
Robinson, Henry, Reading.
Rodman, S. W., Boston.
Rodocanachi, J. M., Boston.
Rogers, Miss Clara B., Boston.
Rogers, Miss Flora E., New York.
Rogers, Henry M., Boston.
Rogers, Jacob C, Boston.
Rogers, Mrs. William B., Boston.
Ropes, John C, Boston.
Ropes, Joseph S., Boston.
Rotch, Mrs. Benjamin S., Boston.
Rotch, Miss Edith, Boston.
Russell, Henry G., Providence.
Russell, Mi^s. Henry G., Provi- dence.
Russell, Henry S., Boston.
Russell, Miss Marian, Boston.
Russell, Mrs. William A., Boston.
Saltonstall, Henry, Boston.
Saltonstall, Hon. Leverett, Newton.
Saltonstall, Mrs. Leverett, Newton.
Sampson, George, Boston.
Sanborn, Frank B., Concord.
Sayles, F. C, Pawtucket, R.I.
Sayles, W. F., Pawtucket, R.L
Schlesinger, Barthold, Boston.
Schlesinger, Sebastian B., Boston.
Sears, David, Boston. Sears, Mrs. Fred. R., Jr., Boston. Sears, Frederick R., Boston. Sears, Mrs. Knyvet W., Boston. Sears, Mrs. P. H., Boston. Sears, Mrs. S. P., Boston. Sears, Willard T., Boston. Sharpe, L., Providence. Shattuck, Mrs. George C, Boston. Shaw, Mrs. G. Howland, Boston. Shaw, Henry S., Boston. Shaw, Miss Pauline, Boston. Shaw, Ouincy A., Boston. Shepard, Harvey N., Boston. Shepard, Mrs. T. P., Providence. Sherwood, Mrs. John H., New
York City. Sherwood, W. H., Boston. Shinkle,Miss Camilla Hunt, Boston. Shippen, Rev. R. R., Washington. Sigourney, Mrs. Henry, Boston. Silsbee, Mrs. M. C. D., Boston. Slafter, Rev. Edmund F., Boston. Slater, H. N., Jr., Providence. Slocum, Mrs. W. H., Jamaica
Plain. Snelling, Samuel G., Boston. Sohier, Miss E. D., Boston. Sohier, Miss Elizabeth, Boston. Sohier, Miss Emily L., Boston. Spaulding, J. P., Boston. Spaulding, Mrs. Mahlon D.,Boston. Spencer, Henry F., Boston. Sprague, F. P., ALD., Boston. Sprague, S. S., Providence. Stanwood, Edward, Brookline. Stearns, Charles H., Brookline. Stevens, Miss C. Augusta, New
York. Stewart, Mrs. C. B., Boston. Sturgis, Fi'ancis S., Boston. Sullivan, Richard, Boston. Swan, Mrs. Sarah H., Cambridge. Swan, Robert, Dorchester. Swan, Mrs. Robert, Dorchester. Sweetser, Mrs. Anne M., Boston.
15
Taggard, B. W., Boston.
Taggard, Mrs. B. W., Boston.
Talbot, Mrs. Isabella W., North Billerica.
Tapley, Mrs. Amos P., Boston.
Tappan, Miss Mary A., Boston.
Tarbell, George G., M.D., Boston.
Temple, Thomas F., Boston.
Thaw, Mrs. William, Pittsburg, Penn.
Thaxter, Joseph B., Hingham.
Thayer, Miss Adele G., Boston.
Thayer, Miss A. G., Andover.
Thayer, Rev. George A., Cincin- nati.
Thayer, Mrs. Harriet L., Boston.
Thayer, Mrs. Nathaniel, Boston.
Thomas, Mrs. Joseph B., Boston.
Thorndike, Mrs. Delia D., Boston.
Thorndike, S. Lothrop, Cambridge.
Ticknor, Miss A. E., Boston.
Tilden, Miss Edith S., Milton.
Tilden, Mrs. M. Louise, Milton.
Tilton, Mrs. W. S., Newtonville.
Tingley, S. H., Providence.
Tolman, Joseph C, Hanover.
Torrey, Miss A. D., Boston.
Tower, Col. William A., Boston.
Townsend, Miss Sophia T., Bos- ton.
Troup, John E., Providence.
Tuckerman, Mrs. C. S., Boston.
Turner, Miss Abby W., Randolph.
Turner, Miss Alice M., Randolph.
Turner, Miss Ellen J., Boston.
Turner, Mrs. M. A., Providence.
Turner, Mrs. Royal W., Randolph.
Underwood, F. H., Boston.
Underwood, Herbert S., Boston.
Upham, Mrs. George P., Boston.
Upton, George B., Boston.
Villard, Mrs. Henry, New York.
Wainwright, Miss R. P., Boston.
Wales, George W., Boston.
Wales, Mrs. George W., Boston.
Wales, Joseph H., Boston.
Wales, Miss Mary Ann€, Boston.
Ward, Rev. Julius H., Boston.
Warden, Erskine, Waltham.
Ware, Mrs. Charles E., Boston.
Ware, Miss M. L., Boston.
Warren, J. G., Providence.
Warren, Mrs. J. Sullivan, Boston.
Warren, Mrs Wm. W., Boston.
Washburn, Rev. Alfred F., South
Boston. . Washburn, Hon. J. D., Worcester.
Waters, Edwin F., Boston.
Waterston, Mrs. R. C, Boston.
Watson, Thomas A., Weymouth.
Watson, Mrs. Thomas A., Wey- mouth.
Webster, Mrs. John G., Boston.
Weeks, A. G., Boston.
Welch, E. R., Boston.
Weld, Otis E., Boston.
Weld, R. H., Boston.
Weld, Mrs. W. F., Boston.
Weld, W. G., Boston.
Wells, Mrs. Elizabeth S., Boston.
Wesson, J., L., Boston.
Wheeler, Nathaniel, Bridgeport, Conn.
Wheelock, Miss Lucy, Boston.
Wheelwright, A. C, Boston.
Wheelwright, John W., Boston.
White, C. J., Cambridge.
White, Charles T., Boston.
White, Mrs. Charles T., Boston.
White, G. A., Boston.
White, Joseph A., Framingham.
Whitehead, Miss Mary, West Somerville.
Whitford, George W., Providence.
Whiting, Albert T., Boston.
Whiting, Ebenezer, Boston.
Whitman, Mrs. Sarah W., Boston.
Whitney, Miss Anne, Boston.
Whitney, Edward, Belmont.
Whitney, Henry M., Brookline.
Whitney, Miss Sarah A., Boston.
Whitney, Miss Sarah W., Boston.
i6
Whitten, Mrs. Elizabeth S., Dor- chester.
Whitwell, S. Horatio, Boston.
Whitwell, Miss S. L., Boston.
Wigglesworth, Edward, M.D., Bos- ton.
Wigglesworth, Thomas.
Wightman, W. B., Providence.
Williams, Miss Louise H., Boston.
Wilson, Mrs. Maria Gill, Newton- ville.
Winslow, Mrs. George, Roxbury.
Winsor, J. B., Providence.
Winthrop, Mrs. John, Stockbridge. Winthrop, Hon. Robert C, Boston. Winthrop, Mrs. Thomas L., Bos- ton. Wolcott, Mrs. J. H., Boston. Wolcott, Roger, Boston. Woodruff, Thomas T., Boston. Woods, Henry, Boston. Woolf, Benjamin E., Boston. Worthington, Roland, Roxbury. Young, Mrs. Benjamin L., Boston. Young, Charles L., Boston.
SYNOPSIS OF THE PROCEEDINGS
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CORPORATION
South Boston, Oct. 12, 1892.
The annual meeting of the corporation, duly sum- moned, was held today at the institution and was called to order by the president, Samuel Eliot, LL.D., at 3 P.M.
The proceedings of the last meeting were read by the secretary, and declared approved.
Mr. John S. Dwight presented the report of the trustees, which was read, accepted, and ordered to be printed with that of the director and the usual ac- companying documents.
The treasurer, Mr. Edward Jackson, read his re- port, which was ac'cepted, and ordered to be printed.
The corporation then proceeded to ballot for oiTfi- cers for the ensuing year, and the following persons were unanimously elected: —
President — Samuel Eliot, LL.D. Vice-President — John Cummings. Treasurer — Edward Jackson. Secretary — M. Anagnos.
i8
Trustees — William Endicott, Jr., Joseph B. Glover, J. Theodore Heard, M.D., Andrew P. Peabody, D.D,, Edward N. Perkins, Leverett Saltonstall, S. Lothrop Thorndike and George W. Wales
The names of Albert T. Whiting, Harvey N. Shepard, Joseph Edgar ChamberHn, Daniel S. Knowlton, Benjamin E. Woolf, Arlo Bates, Charles Bruen Perkins, Herbert S. Underwood, Miss Lucy Derby, Mrs. Emily M. Morison, of Boston ; Mrs. Florence Howe Hall, of Scotch Plains, NJ.; Mrs. Emily Wells Foster, of Hartford, Conn. ; and Rev,. D. N. Beach, of Cambridge, were afterwards added to the list of the members of the corporation by a unani- mous vote.
The meeting was then dissolved, and all in attend- ance proceeded, with the invited guests, to attend the dedication of the new library building and inspect the premises.
M. ANAGNOS,
Secretary.
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES.
Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind,
South Boston, Oct. 5, 1893.
To the members of the corporation.
Gentlemen and Ladies : — We respectfully sub- mit to you, and, through you, to the legislature of this commonwealth, the sixty-first annual report of the institution under our charge, for the year ending- Sept. 30, 1892.
• All matters relating to the pupils of the kinder- garten will be separately treated under that head.
The restored health, which our excellent and be- loved director, Michael Anagnos, brought back from Europe two years ago, has stood the test of another year of wise, devoted and efficient labor, with full con- secration of all his energies, and with a success sur- passing all before. By his unflagging zeal and enter- prise, as well as his rare economic instinct in prose- cuting new works, he has been building up the insti- tution for the future, till he presents it, as you see, amply provided and equipped with a complete gymna- sium, spacious and elegant halls for the library (of about 11,000 volumes, both in raised type for the pupils, and of general literature for the teachers and
20
for reading to the scholars), and a whole upper floor of two hundred and thirty-eight feet in length and width of twenty-six feet, for the musical department, including about thirty rooms in which piano pupils practise by themselves, with larger rooms for teachers, and a large hall for the band, and musical library. But we are anticipating.
The year has shown unbroken and remarkable suc- cess. The attendance has been regular, the school- rooms have been comfortably filled, and much room gained for school-rooms and for dormitories by concen- trating the gymnasium, the library and all the music teaching in the new building ; a feeling of harmony and willing cooperation has reigned everywhere throughout the establishment ; and its various depart- ments have been scenes of earnest work and honor- able effort on the part of all connected with it either as teachers, learners, or as workers in the various in- dustrial branches carried on within it.
A great blessing of the past year has been the ex- cellent health of the establishment. There have been no cases of death, and none of severe illness of any kind. Even the ordinary ailments to which children are more or less subject have not been so frequent or so severe as usual. Indeed, we cannot be too thank- ful that each successive quarterly report of the di- rector has presented a clean bill of health.
The total number of blind persons connected with the institution at the end of the financial year, Sept. 30, 1S92, was 210. Of these, 157 were in the parent
21
school at South Boston, 37 in the kindergarten at Jamaica Plain, and 16 in the workshop for adults.
2. The School.
It must be always borne in mind that the Perkins Institution is a school, and not an asylum. Its whole aim and work is educational. All its means and methods, all its systems, all the care and intelligence and efforts of its teachers are concentrated upon that one end, — to educate the blind; to replace in them the loss of sight, by the quickening and the harmoni- ous development of the remaining senses, and of all the faculties, physical, moral, intellectual, ideal and artistic, by such an education, so rounded and com- plete, so well balanced, that their life shall miss none of its opportunities, that they may be able to compete to fair advantage in the struggle for true life, true happiness and standing in the world. It is a many- sided education. It is a liberal education, in the best sense of that term. It seeks to do justice to the whole nature, — to develop what is in the pupil.
Physical culture is at the foundation. Wholesome diet, clean and orderly habits, regular exercise and physical training on a judicious and progressive sys- tem, are required. There is one well-equipped gym- nasium for both boys and girls, with a constant look- out for the most approved new methods, — the new building . being furnished with the best machinery for climbing, swinging, strengthening the limbs and
22
muscles in every way, and acquiring freedom and grace of motion. For all this the means and accom- plished teachers are provided on a generous and thoughtful scale. Moreover, the Swedish or Sloyd system, opening the way from exercise to use, teach- ing how to handle tools and the practice of mechanic arts (whereby even some of the blind girls have be- come experts in cabinet making and the putting to- gether of many sorts of boxes), has been an estab- lished feature now for several years. Every pupil has some trophies of his skill to show in these arts of workmanship, and equally interesting to observe are their orderly habits in laying away their tools so that they know just where to find them the next time. The fruits of all this wholesome regime and sys- tematic exercise, together with the joy of work, the sense of making things, is seen in the bright, health- ful faces, the glowing look of pleasure and the natural and easy carriage of the body.
Such wholesome, harmonious, happy physical de- velopment, with the cheering influence of music, mingling more or less with all their exercises, con- duces more than is commonly supposed to moral cult- ure and good manners, cheerful ways of mutual ser- vice, obedience to teachers, habits of industry, both physical and mental. An air of self-respect, as well as respect for others, is characteristic of their daily life and doings.
On this twofold foundation, well laid as may be from the outset, neglected at no stage from the
earliest, first a sound physique, and secondly a sound morale, the intellectual training opens under great advantages. It is practical, teaching the pupil to think for himself, and learn things experimentally. It is not content with teaching either books or things; its first aim is to stimulate, provoke, develop faculties, which are the keys to knowledge. He who learns grammar, or arithmetic, or geography, has acquired just those things, by rote it may be, while his faculties, which should be inquiring, fall asleep in the ruts of habit. He whose mind is aroused and stimulated, holds the keys which com- mand all knowledge as he wants it. Hence lessons are not recited in the parrot way. The meaning is required, and in the simplest terms. In short, it is the kindergarten principle indefinitely extended, carrying the fresh and natural ways of childhood into manhood ; charming the pupil onward ever by the glow of discovery, making the old, humdrum lesson new as the things the boy learns in the sur- prise of play. The field of studies is wide, and it is a perpetual study of the teacher to adapt the teach- ing to the various individualities of the pupils. Certain branches, as reading, writing and arithmetic, are important to all, and involved in the common requisitions of our life. But beyond that, every child has certain aptitudes peculiarly his own, and these our system makes it a duty and a pleasure to de- tect in him and give them food and exercise.
In reading, our pupils use the system of raised
24
letters, as invented and perfected by Dr. Howe. Without repeating the arguments for the superiority of this system over others, let it suffice to say that it has stood the test of daily use for many years, and that now an extensive library of all departments of standard literature has been printed from our press, much of which circulates among the blind throughout the United States. At the same time the children are made famiHar with the Braille or point system, which serves them well in writing let- ters and in taking notes ; and which forms their only means of musical notation.
Mathematics is very much a mental process with the blind. They carry figures in their heads, and perform calculations upon large sums, such as most of us would be afraid to handle, while for more diffi- cult work they use ciphering boards. In geography they are obliged to feel their way ; and by this very necessity they get a palpable grasp upon countries and places on the map or globe. They have always shown a notable proficiency in picking out, from dissecting maps, countries and cities, mountains and lakes, as they are called for, with marvellous cer- tainty and dispatch, and describing their distinctive features, physical and topographical, or social and political, naming capitals, industries and historical events. The artistic, convenient maps, with raised features to be felt out, or dissecting maps to be taken apart and put together, — a most instructive exercise, — are the manufacture and the pride of the
25
institution. In all their recitations and their readings, a clear, distinct, well-modulated utterance is required, and in this quality they compare well with seeing pupils. Classes, necessarily smaller, where pupils are found receptive, are formed for higher themes of study, as philosophy, history and ethics, and for the reading, analysis and comparison of poetry. For the study of natural history, they are well supplied with models, and take delight in feeling out, with their own fingers, the distinctive structure and adaptation to wants and uses of the various animals. And they become practically well versed with animal anatomy, as well as human.
Music has been cultivated with the wonted love and enthusiasm, and with even more success, under the same devoted and excellent teachers, with Mr. Thomas Reeves, himself blind, at their head, now a niusician and a teacher of mature experience, assisted by an efficient corps of seeing music-readers. For the blind learn music partly through dictation, having excellent memories, although to a great extent they read it through the Braille notation. The tuning, regulating, even the repair of pianos, still goes on under the excellent instruction of Mr. J. W. Smith, and the practice of this art finds many of the pupils plentiful employment in private families, as well as in the public schools of the city.
The loss of sight is largely compensated to the blind by the concentration of the sense of hearing. Their perception of musical tone is intensified ; they
26
seek and find an absorbing pleasure in it much be- yond the average ; and the number of music lovers among them is more general than among the seeing class. They find in music a solace and an exhaust- less occupation. It, moreover, avails them largely as a means of self-support. Our school sends out every year some good piano teachers, and every year they come nearer to the standard of accomplished musi- cianship. For the mastery of the violin and other instruments played with a bow, they have not the same inducement, because only rare skill and talent command employment in that field. Yet the last year has shown some fair specimens of violin-playing among our pupils, and it seems to be becoming more an object of interest among them. Naturally the boys turn more to the reed and brass instruments which compose a band, and our band is capable of giving no mean delectation to an audience. It was never in better condition than at present, under the arduous and patient discipline of Mr. Reeves, who has to teach each part, each player, singly, involving a great exercise of memory. Now, with their new hall, of ample proportions, their proper home, in the new building, they will find sphere and encourage- ment for practice.
A feature, on which our music school can pique itself, is the degree to which the spirit of John Sebas- tian Bach permeates and tempers and refines the whole study and practice of the art. Our students of organ-playing, of which we have good' examples.
27
make Bach's music their foundation. Our chorus singers love to sing old German chorals in his inimi- table four-part setting, at once affording them the most spiritual and beautiful of service music, religious to the very core, and making them conversant with the very best examples of contrapuntal harmony, in which each of the four parts moves with a melody of its own, yet all interwoven into one. Our band, too. plays these chorals, the parts of the harmony being carefully distributed among the characteristic instru- ments. Moreover, among our younger students in piano-playing, some twenty boys and twenty girls give what they call a " Bach hour " every year, which costs them much instructive preparation, coupled with much true delight, in which each shows how carefully he or she has mastered and can perform some little piece, by no means very simple, — some prelude or fugue from the "Well-tempered Clavi- chord," some Invention, or Minuet, or Gavotte, or Sarabande; and they put their souls into them, for they have learned to love them with a love which cannot die out. Here is a germ of the purest art be- ginning to develop in these young musicians, touch- ing their musical instincts from the first to finer issues. Such culture tells in the formation of a musi- cal taste and character. And, before leaving the subject of musical culture in the school, we may take the opportunity to say that in music, if in nothing else, our post-graduate courses, yet in their infancy, and pleading for means and recognition, are begin-
28
ning to show fruits. One of our graduates, for whom the invaluable instruction of Professor Baermann was secured, Mr. C. A. W. Howland, has recently re- turned from three years' study at the conservatory in Munich, bearing the testimony of Rheinberger and other professors there, to his having taken the highest honors in every department of the study, and to the great joy of Mr. Baermann.
We are happy to say that our excellent corps of teachers and officers has been reengaged, with the exception of Miss Caroline Emery, of the literary department, and Mr. George J. Parker, teacher of vocal music. Miss Emery intends to enter the sanc- tum of matrimony, and declined a reelection. Her place has been filled by the appointment of Miss Jessie L. Langworthy, a recent graduate of Smith College at Northampton ; and Mr. Parker has been succeeded by Mr. George W. Want.
3. CoMMENCEiMEXT ExERCISES.
These were held as usual in the Tremont Temple, in the afternoon of Tuesday, June 7, 1S92, the president of the corporation, Samuel Eliot, LL.D., presiding. The eager and sympathetic audience overflowed the hall, and the interest with which the exercises were followed to the very end has been ex- ceeded on no previous occasion of the kind. It may be said, too, in praise of the spirit and good judgment with which they were planned and carried through.
29
that no one felt them to be over-long. Dr. Eliot, on taking the chair, setting an example of brevity, said : —
Ladies and Gentlemen^ Friends of the Blind: — We welcome you to the exercises of this afternoon. They are of the same nature as during the ten years that have passed away since we first assembled within these walls to celebrate the commence- ment of the institution. This is the eleventh time that we are here, and I daresay it is the eleventh time that many of you are here. At all events, I know that you come here this afternoon full of sympathy for these children ; and they will feel, as their exercises go on from one stage to another, the presence of friends and the interest which I am sure you will both feel and express.
The papers of the next clay gave vivid descriptions of the exercises in their order, from which we cull the following: —
While the audience was gathering, Henry R. W. Miles, one of the graduating class, played, for an organ prelude, Bach's great Fugue in G minor. Then the regular programme was opened with the overture to Auber's " Fra Diavolo," played by the school band, — played as everything the children do is done, so exceptionally well as to draw forth the heartiest applause. . . .
Dr. Eliot then presented two young maidens, who gave an illus- tration of reading by the touch. They were Florence Smith and Margaret McCarthy, pupils of different ages, who read selections suited to their degree of progress.
John Henley, Reuel E. Miller and Thomas Rochford, a trio of young boys, next gave an exercise in botany and zoology ; standing in front of tables bearing a bean plant in various stages
30
of growth, specimens of sea weed, coral and a stuffed body and portions of the skeleton of an owl, each one, in turn, gave a little object lesson upon the materials at hand, speaking with the clearness and assurance which seeing children often fail to attain.
A duet for alto horns, from Bellini's " Norma," was most acceptably played by Edward D. Bigelow and Henry E. Mo- zealous.
An exercise in physiology, given by Lizzie Caulfield, Etta Walcott and Katie Dugan, was an exceedingly interesting pres- entation of the nature of the human nervous system, which they illustrated by wooden tablets bearing representations of the brain, spinal cord, etc., moulded in relief from clay.
The next number was a Sloyd exercise given by Emma Carr, Jennie Foss and Edith Thomas, the latter one of the four scholars who are deaf as well as blind. The first two little carpenters, standing at their benches, showed towel rollers whi'ch they had made, and explained how they had set to work with tools and .measurements to produce the results. Little Edith's work was a paper-knife, the manufacture of which she explained with her pathetic finger language, which her teacher translated, and then the three small workwomen, with planes and saws and vises, etc., demonstrated in practice what they had previously explained, afterwards sweeping the shavings off their work benches with brush brooms, and hanging them back in their accustomed places, at which display of womanly neatness an old lady sitting in one of the balconies laughed aloud, to the amusement of all other interested spectators.
The first part was brought very prettily and mu- sically to a close by a chorus for female voices, " Sparrows' Twitter," sung in sweet, clear voices, and with spirit and expression. In part second the little children of the kindergarten led off with a most
31
agreeable surprise ; their contribution to the feast will be found under the head of " Kindergarten."
Following these came a quartet for male voices, " Farewell," of which both words and music were composed by Henry R. W. Miles. This was sung by Messrs. Mozealous, Hodsdon, Warburton and Robair, and was followed by the gymnastic and military drill exercise which yearly proves so attractive and even wonderful to the spectators. Henry R. W. Miles gave the valedictory, which was well thought out and clearly presented,- and in which he realized that the class of which he is a member is only at the threshold of life, and urged that each do his part to make the world better for his having lived. Toward the end of the exercises the Rev. Andrew P. Peabody, D.D., presented diplomas to the following-named graduates : Edward David Bigelow, Henry Berton Hodsdon and Henry R. Webster Miles. The presentation was prefaced with the following words of tender sympathy and wise advice and exhortation : —
Young Gentlemen: — I perform this office with very great pleasure. I appreciate the intense mental effort that has ac- companied your work in order to attain the liberal education with which you go from us. I know tlial in your case it has been a more intense mental application than is ordinarily re- quired of young men who are preparing to graduate as you do now. You have used your minds thoroughly and faithfully, else you could not be here to receive the honors you receive to- day. Let me beg of you to continue to keep your minds con- stantly active. Do thoroughly with your whole mind and your whole heart whatever you do. You have not slighted your
work in school. Whatever your work may be hereafter, do it well, and consider it utterly worthless unless you do it to the best of your ability. At the same time your minds are so open to a higher vision than that of the bodily eye, that you can see the right ; you know the right, you know what your duty is. Never swerve one hair's breadth from what you know and feel to be right ; and remember, if you do swerve ever so little, you take a wrong direction, and you will be likely to keep the direction you have once taken ; and you know enough of geome- try to know that two lines which form a very small angle diverge very rapidly, and if you take the wrong one, though ever so little ways from the right, you will soon find yourself a great way from the right. At times you have had your thoughts directed beyond this life to a higher and better one. You can make your life here as good as the life you look forward to in a higher world. If in the geometry of the Bible and the geometry of all true souls there could be one straight line from earth to heaven, it is the line of right, — right thinking, feeling and doing. And if there were nothing beyond this world, — 1 be- lieve there is an eternity beyond, — the right way of getting through this world would be the same.
Take the right way, follow in that line, and your path will be one of constant and unceasing progress through this world and on to eternity.
It is with great pleasure that I present these diplomas, with the earnest greetings of the trustees, and, I am sure, of all the audi- ence present.
May God bless and keep you.
The exercises came to an end with a chorus for all the voices, finely sung, but not so elevated and in- spiring a composition as these same singers have on several occasions found so edifying to their audience, — one of those chorals of Bach, for instance, " How brightly shines the morning star ! "
4- Post-graduate Course.
The trustees desire again to call attention to a need which has been mentioned in previous annual reports ; namely, the need for the establishment and endowment of a post-graduate course.
Every year's experience shows that our curriculum should be enlarged and made more complete. Every year there are a number of blind young men and women who need the opportunity for more advanced study, in order that they may be well equipped to enter upon the active duties of life, or fitted for ad- mission to the college or university where they may pursue a . higher course of study with seeing class- mates. For this purpose we need permanent re- sources for the employment of competent teachers in music and in literature. The additions made to the boys' music department give sufficient accommoda- tions for this purpose, but a large music hall is needed, with a supply of instruments and other ad- vantages which will enable our pupils to become thor- ough musicians and good scholars.
The present music hall is too small, being only sufficient to accommodate the inmates, without allow- ing room for an audience from outside, whose pres- ence would be a stimulus and an encouragement to our musicians. Located in one wing of the boys' department, it is not easily accessible either from the girls' department or from outside. A larger hall directly accessible from the street, with an entrance
34
on one side for the boys and on the other for the girls, would supply a need which the growth of our school makes more and more imperative.
5. Blind Deaf Mutes.
The interest, which has been awakened by the progress of the four blind and deaf children under instruction, has brought new applications for the admission of others similarly afflicted, which we have been obliged to refuse for lack of accommodations. Experience and thoughtful consideration deepen the conviction that such children should not be taught apart from others, and subjected to, interrup- tions which the visits and special attentions of friends and an interested public inevitably produce; but that they should be placed in the regular classes, and their education conform in all respects with that of the other pupils of the school. Special teachers will still be needful, but their office will become mainly that of interpreter to convey to the minds of the deaf blind the instruction which their class- mates are receiving through the ear.
Persons suffering from this triple deprivation have been so few and so widely separated that no pro- vision exists for their education, which, indeed, was considered impossible until Dr. Howe's success with Laura Bridgman demonstrated its practicability. With the increase of population the number of such cases has become considerable, and now the re-
peated appeals for help for these deeply afflicted ones make it a duty to consider the establishment of a department for the education of blind deaf mutes.
6, Finances.
The report of the treasurer, Mr. Edward Jackson, herewith presented, shows in detail the financial record, which may be summarized as follows : —
Cash on hand Oct. i, 189 1, $6,016.37
Total receipts from all sources during the year, . 198,831.51
$204,847.88
Total expenditures and investments, 191,653.96
Balance, . . - $13,193.92
The various funds have been managed with great care, and constant prudence has been exercised in all disbursements. The strictest economy has been practised in order to -provide for the pressing de- mands upon the institution. The limitation in the income renders the restriction of the expenditures necessary in many lines where outlays might be made with the highest advantage to the scholars. If the means at our disposal were twice as large as they are, the work which the establishment would be enabled to accomplish would be of the greatest ser- vice to the cause of the education of the blind.
36
7- The Printing Office.
The printing office has been in active operation throughout the year, and has published the following list of books : —
Tennyson's Idylls of the King. The Sleeping Sentinel, Sesame and Lilies, Captain January, . Black Beauty, Turner's First Reader. Standard Braille Primer.
by Chittenden, by John Ruskin. by Laura E. Richards, by A. Sewell.
Besides completing some musical work commenced the previous year, it has also printed a key to the Braille " Musical Notation," and the following pieces of music : —
Pleasures of May, . In the Beautiful Month of May, Second Valse, .... Gavotte Mignonne, .
G. Merkel, Op. 8i. G. Merkel, Op. 25. Benjamin Godard, Op. 56. W. Goldner.
8. Workshop for Adults.
This department has been steadily carried on as heretofore, giving employment to a number of adult blind persons, and the opportunity of learning a use- ful occupation to others. The need of increased patronage continues to be felt. The character of the work is guaranteed, and the patronage solicited for the benefit of the blind (who have so few industries
in which they can compete with the seeing) will there- fore be found advantageous to customers even from the business point of view.
9. Library Building.
The special event of the year has been the comple- tion of the new building for a library, which has long been urgently demanded, and providing increased accommodations for other purposes which the growth of the school requires. The new edifice has been erected on Fourth and H streets, and forms an annex to the main building, with which it is connected by two bridges.
The first story is occupied mainly by a gymnasium ninety-five feet long. It is fitted up with the best appliances for physical ex- ercise, and has a broad gallery extending its entire length. Two dressing-rooms are attached, — one for the girls, the other for the boys. A commodious apartment has been arranged for the Sloyd classes of the girls' department, and the remaining space, which is of easy access from the kitchen, is devoted to storerooms, which have been greatly needed.
The second story consists of three spacious rooms for the library of embossed and ordinary books, with cases and drawers for minerals, stuffed birds and animals, and other specimens for object teaching ; and a smaller fire-proof room for the preserva- tion of valuable books and documents.
The upper story is appropriated to the music department, and contains a spacious apartment for a musical library and for band practice ; a large teaching room and three smaller ones ; a tuning shop provided with cases and drawers for models and tools, a workbench and other conveniences; and thirty-three small music and tuninof rooms.
This is the modest, brief description furnished by the director of what he calls the " Library Building," planned by himself and Mr. Dennis A. Reardon, and erected under their immediate superintendence dur- ing the past year. It is of brick, of three stories, two hundred and thirty-eight feet long, running behind the whole length of the main building, with a spa- cious L on H street, and connected with the main building by two bridges of easy access and gentle slope. The work has all been done in a solid and thorough manner, and the internal fixtures put in, all at the surprisingly moderate cost, showing a true Greek economy, of about $41,000. The three depart- ments, gymnasium, library and music school, occupy- ing the first, second and third floors respectively, now complete so far as rooms are concerned, amply and even elegantly equipped for use, are a feast to the eye of the visitor, as well as a comfort and a home to teachers and pupils in these branches.
The " three spacious rooms " of the library are really halls, ample, convenient and aesthetic. One of them, the largest, of open area, affords room for consider- able gatherings, lectures, readings, meetings, etc., as it will show this afternoon, when it will be used for the dedication of the new building. Another is beauti- fully set with cases in black walnut, filled with books, not only the large collection of embossed books for the pupils, but well-bound volumes in the ordinary type for teachers and for reading to the pupils, form- ine a rich and choice collection of standard literature.
Here poetry, history, science, fiction, have each their proper cases. It was a surprise how many books had accumulated under the vigilant forethought of Dr. Howe, and subsequent additions. They had been stowed away in corners, piled upon the floor, hidden in chambers and closets, and almost impossible to find. Now all are arranged in beautiful, convenient order, and each is come-at-ible at once in the right place. And we find we have a really choice and representative library of about eleven thousand vol- umes ; besides the cases and drawers of minerals, stuffed birds and animals, and anatomical models and various specimens for object-teaching. And a very solid fire-proof room, small but sufficient, gives a com- fortable assurance that the records, archives and val- uable documents of the institution are secure.
The provision for the musical department of in- struction and of practice alone challenges equal ad- miration by its extent and complete equipment for its uses.
Descend to the ground fioor, and you will find the gymnasium, which is ninety-five feet in length. It is admirably equipped with all the modern appli- ances,— at least all the best. A visitor from New York, an expert in gymnastics, waxed enthusiastic on sight of it, and exclaimed : " That is complete, perfect, and could not be better."
The members of the corporation, and the visitors who are present to-day, will have an opportunity to witness and judge of these new arrangements for themselves.
40
lo. Repairs.
A number of necessary repairs and a few altera- tions have been made during the vacation. On the third floor a portion of the boys' workshop has been partitioned off so as to provide a separate room for Sloyd classes.
The removal of the music department to the new building left the rooms of the west wing of the second story vacant, and but slight changes were needful to fit them for their present use as dormi- tories. In two rooms, which will be used as a nur- sery, the old floors have been replaced by hard-wood flooring.
By the ample store-rooms provided in the new building a room in the basement has been vacated, and this has been converted into a lavatory for the younger boys. The old underpinning of the little boys' entry has been replaced by new, and the four adjacent music rooms have been made into one large apartment.
In the yard the paths and a part of the drive- way and little boys' playground have been covered with concrete, and the premises have been made more accessible to the heavy teams which bring sup- plies, by finishing the driveway to Fourth street with block paving.
In the cottages of the girls' department the walls and wood-work of the first floor have been repainted, the pantries renovated and new sky-lights supplied.
41
II. The Matron.
Miss Maria C. Moulton, who became Matron of the institution in 1853, from the first had Dr. Howe's confidence and was his judicious and faith- ful coadjutor in his work. She has been of essen- tial service to the present superintendent. Her thoughtful and unfailing kindness has been of un- speakable worth as regards the comfort and happi- ness of the pupils ; and, at the same time, her sympathy and help have been so freely given to her assistants and to the teachers, as to endear her to all who have in any way borne part with her in the administration of the school. She has much more than earned the rest which she is now taking. Her place could not be easily filled, and we trust that she will return with renewed strenoth and vio;or to the charge from which she received temporary re- lief by the following vote of the trustees, passed July I, 1892 : —
Voted, That leave of absence for one year, with continuance of salary, be given to the matron of the boys' department, Miss Maria C. Moulton, and that the director be commissioned to assure her of the high esteem and warm regard in which she is held by the trustees, and to convey to her their hearty thanks and the expression of their appreciation of the invaluable ser- vices which she has rendered to the institution during the greater part of her beneficent life.
42
12. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks.
During the past year the institution has sustained a great loss in the death of Francis Brooks, who had been a member of the board of trustees since 1866, and who has been second to no one of his col- leagues in valuable services. He gave not only time and money but himself to the work, bestowing upon it his warmest sympathy, his wise counsel, his whole- hearted cooperation in whatever could contribute to its prosperity and usefulness. He was among the foremost friends of the kindergarten, and offered to give it a site on his own grounds in West Medford, — an offer declined solely on account of its distance from the parent institution.
Before the close of the year we lost in Mrs. Brooks an equally kind friend and an assiduous helper in our work, as she was, like her husband, in every good work within their common sphere of benefi- cent action. She took a special interest in the kin- dergarten, opened her apartments to entertainments for its benefit, and gave to it the proceeds of the sale of her charming translation of " Heidi," which still remains a source of income. While perform- ing numerous offices of love for the children under our charge, she established on her own premises a kindred institution for deaf and dumb children of tender years.
After the death of Mr. Brooks, the board of trus- tees passed the following resolutions : —
43
Resolved, That in the death of Francis Brooks we mourn the loss of a dear and honored associate and friend, whose large heart was in deep sympathy with the work of the institution, and whose long and faithful service in the many trusts and functions which have fallen to him among the duties of this board, has endeared him to every inmate and manager of the establishment, and made our intercourse with him a sweet memory for all our lives.
Resolved, That we extend to his widow and children our heart- felt sympathy in their loss, which is also ours, assuring them that the memory of the manliness, open-heartedness and generosity of their loved one will be ever cherished by his associates on this board.
Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be entered upon the records, and that a copy thereof be transmitted to Mrs. Brooks and her family.
13. Deaths of Members of the Corporation.
Besides Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, the institution has lost during the year, by death, from the list of its corporate members, Waldo Adams, a man of inflexi- ble integrity and of generous sympathies ; Joseph A. Barker, one of the most benevolent and public-spir- ited citizens of Providence, R.I. ; Mrs. Elizabeth B. Bowditch, who prized wealth for its large capacity of usefulness; John A. Brown of Providence, R.I., who made it his happiness to do good; T. O. H. P. Burn- ham, whose life work in behalf of the lovers of rare and choice literature created funds that will secure for him an enduring name and praise among public benefactors ; W. W. Clapp, a public-spirited citizen, a successful journalist and a warm friend of our institu-
44
tion ; Rev. Samuel A. Devens, till disabled by illness, a faithful Christian minister; Darius Go£f of Paw- tucket, R.I., whose ready aid was bestowed on every cause of humanity; Joseph N. Fiske, worthy heir of a high reputation for intelligence and probity; Miss Augusta Glover, who shared with her brother, an honored member of our board, a profound interest in its work; S. H. Green of River Point, R.I., whose loss is deeply felt; Herbert E. Hill of Somerville, a gallant field-officer in the war of the rebellion, and, in later time, distinguished in various official positions and in several departments of philanthropic service ; Mrs. Anna A. Ives of Providence, R.I., well known for her philanthropy, as well as for the graces and virtues that leave a fragrant memory ; Patrick Tracy Jackson, the liberal-minded and large-hearted mer- chant ; Edward W. Kinsley, who left the memory of a kind heart and a useful life ; William H. Lon^ ; Mrs. Caroline Merriam, noted for her benevolence, espe- cially to the blind; George Owen of Providence, R.I.; Henry G. Parker, an enterprising editor, whose col- umns were open to appeals in behalf of any and every cause of suffering humanity; Mrs. Sarah Potter of Providence, R.I., a friend and helper of the blind; Mrs. John Simpkins, full of good works, and espe- cially thoughtful for the well-being and well-doing of the inmates of our kindergarten ; Mrs. Robert C. Winthrop, whose wise counsel and extended influ- ence largely enhanced the worth of her open-handed charity; and Miss Susan Weld, nowhere more be-
45
loved than among those whose want, privation and suffering it was her happiness to relieve.
All which is respectfully submitted by
EDWARD BROOKS, JOHN S. DWIGHT, WILLIAM ENDICOTT, Jr., JOSEPH B. GLOVER, J. THEODORE HEARD, ANDREW P. PEABODY, EDWARD N. PERKINS, WILLIAM L. RICHARDSON, LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, THOMAS F. TEMPLE, S. LOTHROP THORNDIKE, GEORGE W. WALES,
Trustees.
DEDICATION OF THE NEW LIBRARY BUILDING.
After the annual meeting of the corporation, on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 12, the mem- bers were invited to one of the halls of the new library, where simple dedicatory exercises were held.
Dr. Eliot, in a brief and informal opening address, spoke of the many times of late, in which they had been summoned to celebrations at the kindergarten, the child of this school, and now they were assembled to share the enjoyment of the parent institution in dedicating this new library, which forms a very im- portant branch of the establishment. And in this celebration he felt that they were also commemorat- ing the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America, for the exact date was October 12, in- stead of October 21, which has been accepted as " Columbus Day." When a boy of fifteen years he first became acquainted with Dr. Howe and this noble work in which he was then engaged. From that time he had felt a deep interest in the success of the institution, and it was a great pleasure to be present at these exercises.
A concerto, played by H. R. W. Miles, was fol- lowed by the reading of a selection from Ruskin,
47
by Lizzie Caulfield ; and "The Hero," — Whittier's tribute to the brave, chivah-ous and philanthropic character of Dr. Howe, — by Matilda J. Boyle.
Then came a duet for the cornet and clarinet, played by H. R. W. Miles and J. Walsh.
In his essay upon " The New Library," Henry Mozealous considered it as a teacher that " supplies us with information and makes us acquainted with the wonders of creation," and " with this knowledsfe of the world of nature and the world of thouQ-ht, we ought to be well equipped to enter upon our work in the world of man." Regarding its sources of instruc- tion with closer attention, he says of the books: " Rows upon rows of them, seeming dark and silent until we open them, and then how different! Each volume has some new thought or lesson to disclose." Passing from the library of books, with its treasures of enjoyment for the children and of interest and delight to the student and scientist, he next consid- ered the museum, with its collection of animals and its specimens of woods, vegetables, flowers and fruits, of rocks and metals, and of models for the study of anatomy and physiology. Here, in a single sentence, he unconsciously revealed the necessity to the blind of the object teaching thus afforded, and its mental and spiritual value : " As we walk among the wonder- ful products of nature, we feel the sublime presence of our maker and an impression comes over us that God was never so near as he is amono- the manifes- tations of his power and love." The essay closed
48
with the hope that the pupils may never show them- selves unworthy of the great gift, but put it to the best use, " realizing that increased opportunities bring increased responsibilities."
A glee, Mendelssohn's " Students' Song," was sung by the boys ; and a class of little girls gave a pleasing exercise on fruits and vertebrates, in which Edith Thomas took an equal share with her classmates. Pinsuti's " Three Charms of Life " was rendered by a choir of girls, and the following essay was then read by Mary H. Hoisington: —
A Great Need Supplied.
It is with hearts full of gratitude that we, as a school, greet this dedication da}^, and rejoice in the sunshine it brings. It is indeed a day of promise, which opens for each one of us the portals of a larger, richer life. In this new building a long-cherished wish has found a most beautiful fulfilment, — a dream has become a reality. This completed structure stands as an illustration of the noble aims of the education of today. Its gymnasium, Sloyd room, li- brary and music rooms, provide for the symmetrical development of the body, mind, and soul.
As the health and strength of the mind must ever depend upon the health and vigor of the body, it seems most appropriate that the gymnasium should form a part of the solid foundation of this building, and thus strengthen and support the library; and that, still higher, in the music rooms, the more ethereal part of our nature should find expression.
It is only when we contrast the present with the past, a rich supply with a great need, that we fully appreciate the blessing which is ours today. Our gymnasium lacks nothing which nature and modern science can contribute toward the attainment of health, which is the object of all physical culture. First in impor-
49
tance is the sunshine, which nature here bestows in lavish meas- ure, to which is added the blessing of free space and apparatus sufficient to meet the demand of latest theories concerning the harmonious development of the physical organism.
The dressing-rooms, which join the gymnasium, are an improve- ment, which we would not forget to mention in contrasting a past need with a present supply.
I am sure that all those girls who formerly studied Sloyd in a basement room, which had to do duty for four or five rooms in- stead of one, would gladly testify of their comfort and pleasure in a new Sloyd room, which is so perfectly adapted to the purpose for which it was designed.
The dearest spot in all the building to most of us, I think, is the library, and how great was our need of it ! The old library rooms had become so crowded that many of the books were un- available for common use, and when new books came to our insti- tution from distant printing-presses they could not be unpacked because there was no library space for them, while a place for new books from our own press could be secured only by the stowing away of older ones. We had therefore reached the point where a new library seemed imperative.
For us, who are fond of reading, it used to be hard indeed to know that there were books in print which we could not enjoy, and that even some of our old friends, with whom we would like to have a chat, were quite inaccessible.
Now, as we enter the library our book friends are all around us, ready, and waiting our choice, any one of them to be had for the asking, and there is none of the old delay in searching for them.
We know that all of our books have been most carefully se- lected, and that the library is thus a treasury of some of the choicest productions of the literary world. Such books as these cannot fail to be teachers as well as friends, and to make our lives better and richer for having read them.
One of the strongest desires in the heart of the founder of this institution was, that the pupils should have a library of easy ac-
50
cess, where the best books could be freely obtained at any time. Now we feel that in the wealth of the present resources of the library his noble wish has found fulfilment.
The room adjoining the library, which is devoted to the interests of science, is deserving of special mention. The fine models and specimens which it contains are of greatest service to us in making the path of scientific knowledge a smooth and pleasant one.
And now, what shall we say in acknowledgment of all that has been done for us in the erection of this new building, so complete in every part? In behalf of the whole school, I would offer to our director, trustees, the members of the corporation, and all who have so kindly aided in the work which is here represented, a deep and sincere expression of loving gratitude and appreciation.
The brief and appropriate words of Rev. A. P. Peabody were followed by selections from Bach and Heinecke, given by the brass band, which ended the exercises.
THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR.
I saw eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm as it was bright ;
And round beneath it, time in hours, days, years,
Driven by spheres,
Like a vast shadow mov'd.
— Vaughan.
To the Board of Trustees.
Gentlemen : — At the close of another year — the sixtieth in the history of the school — it becomes my duty to submit to you the customary report of the director on the work and condition of the institution, together with such views, suggestions and recom- mendations as in my judgment call for consideration and action.
The year has been characterized by constant growth and continuous prosperity in the school, and by efficient service on the part of the teachers and employes.
The facts and deductions herein presented show, that the objects, for which the institution was estab- lished, have been prosecuted with earnestness and success, that good progress has been made, and that, though we have never had reason to complain of neg- lect or indifference on the part of the public, the in- terest manifested of late by the community at large in the education of the blind has been stronger than ever.
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Record of Growth.
Then their numbers swell
And grow upon us.
— Sir J. Dexham.
The institution has just completed its sixtieth year of actual work, and it is not inopportune to note on this occasion its growth and prosperity.
Organized in the year 1832 at the residence of Dr. Howe's father on Pleasant street, with six pupils, it has continued to increase steadily both in size and capacity. It occupies now, or will do so in less than three months, ten separate buildings, and has an en- rolment of 210 blind persons. Of these 157 are in the school proper at South Boston, 37 in the kinder- garten at Jamaica Plain, and 16 in the workshop for adults.
During the sixty years of the existence of the estab- lishment 1344 blind persons (800 males and 544 females) have been admitted and have received its benefits either as pupils or as apprentices. Of these 1076 are living as far as known, and 268 have died.
Health of the Inmates.
The surest road to health, say what they will,
Is never to suppose we shall be ill.
Most of those evils we poor mortals know
From doctors and imagination flow.
— Churchill.
I am happy to report, that during the past year the standard of health has been far above the average in
53
every department of the institution. Indeed, it has been exceptionally high.
The arrows of death have not been sent amono- us, nor have any cases of contagious disease or of serious illness occurred. Even the ordinary ailments to which children and youth are more or less subject, have been few in number and mild in form.
The enjoyment of good general health to such a remarkable degree, together with entire exemption from serious maladies and epidemics, which have been quite prevalent in the community around us, during the months of winter and spring, is a cause of sincere congratulation, and we cannot be grateful enough for it.
'&'
Scheme of Education.
Heaven is not reached at a single bound ; But we l3uild the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,
And we mount to. its summit round by round.
— Holland.
Our system of education is constructed with a view to meet the principal wants and special require- ments of the blind.
It is broad in its scope, comprehensive in its char- acter, rational in its methods and practical in its pur- poses. It is based on scientific principles and em- braces an harmonious combination of physical and mental exercises with moral and aesthetic culture. It starts with the kindergarten and advancing step by
54
step reaches the upper branches of study which are taught in the high schools of New England.
The development of bodily strength and manual dexterity, the nurture of the mental powers, the re- finement of the esthetic sense, the improvement of manners and morals, the inculcation of principles of honesty and truthfulness, of industry and upright- ness— all these are included in our curriculum and receive due attention.
The aim and end of this scheme of education is to train the pupils thoroughly and develop their best possibilities, to awaken their aspirations and stimu- late the healthful throbbings of their souls, to en- courage them in their attempts at achievement, to foster in them self-reliance, which is the greatest quality of true manliness, to arm them adequately for the struggle of existence, and to open to them new vistas of hope.
There are five separate departments in the institu- tion, wherein this system of education is carried on, and a cursory review of the work, which has been accomplished in each of them during the past year, seems to be in order here.
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Department of Physical Culture.
A frame of adamant, a soul of fire, No dangers fright him, no misfortunes tire : O'er love, o'er fear extends his wide domain, Unconquered lord of pleasure and of pain.
— Johnson.
Viewed from every standpoint, physical exercise is of unsurpassed value. Its importance cannot be overestimated. It constitutes the ladder which leads to the heights of organic health and structural am- plification. It holds the master key to harmonious development. According to Cicero, it is this alone that supports the spirits and keeps the mind in vigor. Watts considers it as very alluring to the understand- ing. Blair characterizes it as the chief source of improvement for all our faculties. Jules Simon avers, that morality gains by it.
In a well arranged school curriculum physical culture occupies a very important place. It is the corner-stone, upon which the superstructure of an eificient system of instruction and training" can be securely based. It is the tillage and husbandry of the subsoil, from which the intellectual and moral faculties draw the needful sap for their nourishment and growth. Without it no educational establish- ment can do its work properly. For unless the taber- nacle of flesh be made sound and strong, the indwell- ing mind cannot be kept vigorous and alert, ready to seize on every present seeming advantage and able to soar to the stars.
56
Green herbs will not in sandy deserts flourish, Nor summer flowers in snowy mountain's rifts.
But, if adequate provision for bodily exercise is deemed so essential to schools and seminaries for seeing youth, in those established and maintained for the special benefit of the sightless it is demanded with tenfold urgency. Indeed it is not only appropriate, but absolutely indispensable. The reasons are ob- vious.
The blind as a class are deficient in stamina and wanting in muscular strength and endurance. In most cases their physique is undermined by the origi- nal cause of their infirmity, or by the sedentary habits superinduced by it. They lack vital force. Com- pared with ordinary boys and girls of their age, they are pale, puny, flat-chested, timid and languid. They are averse to locomotion. Their blood is propelled sluggishly, because they are disposed to be inactive. Their moral qualities of courage, self-reliance and joyfulness are far below the average standard. When they enter school some of them are so inert physically as to be incapable of engaging in any occupation, while others are both unable and unwill- ing to apply themselves continuously. The springs of life are weak in them. The functions go on feebly, and when obstructed or deranged, they re- cover themselves with difflculty.
Such is in general the physical condition of the majority of sightless children and youth. The pict- ure presented by this description is far from being
57
pleasing; nevertheless it is a true one. It is neither overdrawn nor made a shade darker in color than it really is.
Now the principal task and most solemn duty of those entrusted with the care and training: of the blind, is to devise ways and means and to adopt proper methods for remedying these defects as far as they are curable, and for putting the corporeal frame of the sufferers in a healthy state and good working- order. This is the chief point of the business, and on it their thoughts and energies should be sedulously concentrated.
Of all the instrumentalities, which can be employed to compass this end, physical culture is unquestion- ably the surest and most effective. It is only by means of this potent agency that structural imperfec- tions and flaws can be repaired, the ground freed from injurious weeds and noxious plants, and the foundations for the full and complete development of the mental and moral faculties laid. Upon it de- pends mainly the success of all other educational methods. Without its aid the blind will scarcely be able to reach the highest degree of general improve- ment, which it is possible for them to attain. Hence a school built for their benefit, yet not possessing either a well-fitted gymnasium or sufficient grounds for outdoor exercise, is a sort of intellectual and moral hot-house, with nothing to prevent the diver- sion to the brain of the nourishment, which should go to muscles, nor to check constitutional debility,
58
morbid tendencies, mental frivolities and unhealthy activity of the imagination.
Physical culture constitutes an integral part of our school work, and receives that attention which its im- portance as the foundation of our scheme of educa- tion deserves.
Each class at a stated hour on four days of the week repairs to the gymnasium, and all perform their part in systematic and methodical exercises pre- scribed and conducted by trained and specially edu- cated teachers. The pupils become healthy and strong thereby and they are better prepared for study and mental exertion.
The new gymnasium, which was finished in time to be used during the greater part of the past year, is a great improvement upon the old one. It is much larger and better adapted to its purposes. It is ad- equately equipped and amply supplied with appli- ances and apparatus of the best and newest design.
The system of bodily culture herein pursued is based on hygienic principles, and is the result of study of the human organism and of the laws governing cause and effect. The various exercises comprised in it are carefully selected and arranged, and are calcu- lated to give suppleness and muscular power and to exert a vast influence on the organs employed in the vital processes of respiration, circulation and nutri- tion. They are carried on with great prudence and enthusiastic earnestness.
The work done in the gymnasium cannot be
59
praised too highly ; nor would it be an exaggeration to say that very few educational establishments have a course of bodily training so judiciously arranged and so wisely administered. Yet granting the value of the Swedish, the German, the Delsarte and other systems of physical culture, it is still true, that they must be supplemented by abundant exercise obtained in the open air under the " shining of the sun where- by all things exhilarate," and in the midst of those pure and animating atmospheric influences, which are more or less excluded from the solid piles of brick and mortar. Nature's broad patestra arched by the span of heaven is in every respect far superior to those constructed by the hand of man ; and though the grounds adjoining our buildings are somewhat contracted, we prize them very highly as affording opportunities for sporting, gambols, and innocent frolic.
Reason and experience combine to show, that the salvation of the blind depends mostly upon the re- moval of the natural disadvantages with which they are encumbered, and upon the restoration of their physique to a normal state or to something akin to it. Much of the healthy, buoyant elasticity of mind for which the ancient Greeks were remarkable, as well as for the active and beautiful general develop- ment, in which no other race has ever equalled them, was due to their love and practice of gymnastics. Of course, no rational person would deem it possible to produce models of youth and manhood approach-
6o
ing the classic ideals merely by strict adherence to the methods, which the Greeks pursued in creating them. Considering the nature of the materials which we have to deal with, it would be preposterous even to dream of this. Nevertheless, if our pupils devote themselves with soul and heart to the exercises which are prescribed for them both in the gymnasium and on the playground, and take a genuine interest and unalloyed pleasure in their performance, who can doubt, that they will obtain thereby everlasting bene- fit, and that they will secure that degree of ameliora- tion in their physical health, of which they are in absolute need, and which is a condition sine qua non for the success of anything that they undertake to do?
Literary Department.
How empty learning, and how vain is art, But as it mends the life and guides the heart.
— Young.
I take great pleasure in being able to report, that this department has done excellent work during the past twelve months, and that its plans and processes have been in touch with the best ideas that obtain in the educational field.
The course of study remains substantially the same as in the immediately preceding years; but changes and improvements in some of the details have been made from time to time.
There has been a constant endeavor to interest the
6i
pupils more deeply and practically in the work of the school. Great care has been exercised in the adop- tion of new modes of instruction and in the selection of auxiliary apparatus. Trained and reliable teachers have been secured so far as possible. Needed addi- tions to the collection of tangible appliances have been procured promptly and without stint. Em- bossed books of a higher order have been coming from our press, and nothing has been omitted or overlooked which would help to banish from the class-rooms the tedium and monotony of barren for- mality, and render them pleasant and attractive.
The work of reform, inaugurated by Dr. Howe, has been going on quietly but uninterruptedly. The fundamental principles, enunciated by Rousseau and put into practice by Pestalozzi and Froebel, have been fulfilling their holy mission and bearing fruit. Irrational, unphilosophic and repelling processes have been giving place to rational, scientific and enticing methods. Learning by heart the contents of text- books and repeating them parrot-like have been strictly avoided.
Superfluous branches We lop away, that fruit-bearing boughs may live.
The truth that to educate is not to pour in infor- mation but to draw out and discipline the mental powers, has been fully recognized and acted upon by the instructors. As a general rule the pupils have been led to do independent work and to rely upon
62
their own exertions. Instead of being kept in lead- ing strings, they have been encouraged to use their faculties and to depend upon their own resources.
This statement fairly applies to both sections of the school, but it refers with absolute fitness and special emphasis to that of the girls. Here Wordsworth's exquisite advice, —
Come forth into the light of things ; Let nature be your teacher, —
has been readily heeded and diligently put into prac- tice. Here the pupils are drilled to deal with reali- ties and not with abstractions. Here they are taught to know things as primary facts. The plan of their training is natural and appropriate to the subject under consideration. It is neither arbitrary nor con- fused and misleading. It consists of frequent excur- sions into the wide field of external objects and of a series of explanations made by referring to first prin- ciples. It is pleasing and fascinating to the whole mind. It is the calling into activity of all the intel- lectual powers which the scholars are mature enough to use. It fosters the development of individuahty and the desire for research and leads back to the rational methods of nature, which is the best, the most sagacious and the wisest of teachers.
For this state of things great credit is due to the principal teacher. Miss Delia Bennett, and to every one of her associates and assistants. These young ladies are eminently fitted for their places and do
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most excellent work. A cheerful disposition, a de- sire to be of service, exemplary devotion to their pro- fession, marked ingenuity and untiring energy form an essential part of their equipment. The earnest- ness with which they discharge their duties amounts to enthusiasm. Thoroughly imbued with the princi- ples that underlie the policy and purposes of the institution and strictly loyal to its management, they cooperate heartily with the latter in all matters per- taining to the improvement and welfare of the pupils. To learn the secret spring of action in each of the scholars, to touch that spring and lead the awakened mind to earnest effort and attainment, to lift the soul from the plane of low desires and direct the attention to that which ennobles and refines, to enable the blind to make the most and best of their remaining faculties, is the work which our school is called to perform, and these ladies do it with all their might and in a most satisfactory manner.
Of the success of their efforts there is no lack of evidence. Persons of superior intelligence and of wide experience in educational matters, who have visited this department and witnessed the exercises of most of the classes, have repeatedly expressed them- selves either viva voce or by letter as being highly pleased with the naturalness and excellence of the methods of teaching, or struck with the originality of thought evinced by the scholars in their recitations. This testimony, coming as it does from competent judges and given voluntarily, is peculiarly satisfying.
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The legitimate function of our school is not only to make the recipients of its advantages rational beings, by developing and training their intellectual faculties, and bv teaching; them habits of correct thinking and cultivating in them the capacity of weighing evidence and forming sound judgments, but also to improve, enlarge and strengthen the ethi- cal side of their nature. Hence pari passu with the advance in mental growth has gone the cultivation of the moral sense and the inculcation of such principles as help to mould true character, to quicken the con- science, to render each of the pupils ruler of his spirit and to enable them to act for themselves with wisdom, purity and justice.
One of our graduates of the class of 1887, Mr. William Beard Perry of New Bedford, whose admis- sion to Amherst college without a single condition was recorded in these reports four years ago, com- pleted his academic course, crowned with honors, and took the degree of A.B. last June. Mr. Perry is a young man of exceptional character, uncommon intel- ligence, thorough scholarship and high attainments. In a class of ninety-three seeing students he was the first scholar, — primus inter pares. The beneficent effects of his coeducation and constant association wath seeing young men are conspicuously noticeable in his ways of thinking and acting, as well as in the qualities of frankness, openness and directness, which characterize him in all his relations, and in which many of his fellow-sufferers are more or less wanting.
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Stalwart in form, vigorous in health, prepossessing in appearance, genial and delightful as a companion, gentlemanly in manners, earnest and untiring in effort, and determined in purpose, Mr. Perry has a most promising future before him. Whatever may be his chosen profession, it is safe to predict, that he will be an honor to it, a credit to the institutions at which he was educated, a source of comfort and pride to his parents, and a shining light among his breth- ren in misfortune.
Only one change has occurred in the corps of in- structors during the year. Miss M. Caroline Emery, who had occupied very acceptably a position as teacher since the ist of December, 1S90, declined a reelection at the close of the school term for the pur- pose of entering the holy estate of matrimony. The vacancy was filled by the appointment of Miss Jessie L. Langworthy, a recent graduate of Smith college.
Department of Music.
There is a charm, a power that sways the breast,
Bids every passion revel or be still ;
Inspires with rage, or all your cares dissolves;
Can soothe distraction, and almost despair.
That power is music.
— Armstrong.
This department continues to hold a most promi- nent place in our system of education, and the pupils in it have done very good work during the past year.
The instruction herein given in the various branches of vocal and instrumental music is thorough
66
and comprehensive, and exerts on the scholars a powerful and refining influence, which is of inestima- ble value to them.
Music is studied both as an intellectual pursuit and as a fine art. In the former capacity it helps to de- velop the mind, strengthen the memory and quicken the faculties, while in the latter it aims to create a love for the beautiful, to foster a power of self-ex- pression and self-control, to discipline the emotions, to invigorate the moral nature, to stimulate all the perceptions and to form the taste.
The following statement, prepared by the teachers at my request, shows, that the work of the music de- partment has followed lines similar to those of pre- ceding years :
In recognition of the fact that music is a source of great pleas- ure and profit to the blind, and in accordance with the natural de- sire on the part of parents that their children shall receive a musical training, each pupil is given a thorough trial until, in the case of those who lack the requisite talent, it becomes evident that to prolong the course would result in disappointment. Those who show the necessary talent are trained from the beginning with reference to the two-fold responsibilities of teacher and performer. It is rigidly exacted of them that they be ready to play at a mo- ment's notice any and all of the music that they have learned, and as a test of this ability, frequent review recitals are held, at which a piece is selected at random for performance. By this means, those who are otherwise well-fitted, are prepared to give lessons to such seeing pupils as apply for instruction, and gain thereby val- uable experience in teaching.
The position of church organist offers an attractive and remuner- ativ^e occupation for the blind, and the numerous instances of
67
successful achievement in this field have induced us to give special attention to the preparation of our pupils for this work. A variety of masses, anthems, hymn tunes and other church music has been carefully memorized and practised with hopeful results.
A class in composition has been graduated, the members of which have shown considerable talent in the writing of pieces in the higher species of composition as well as in the ordinary dance forms.
There has been the usual demand for the services of our pupils in concert work, and some have filled positions in church choirs for longer or shorter periods.
One of our graduates went last summer to the island of Jamaica, in search of employment as teacher of music, and still another has returned from Europe after three years of successful study in Munich. It may be noted here, that Rheinberger, the famous or- ganist and composer, was pleased to commend the thoroughness of the instruction which his pupil had received during his course here.
Increasing use has been made of the music in the Braille nota- tion both for vocal and instrumental purposes.
During the year there were io6 pupils connected with the musical department, of whom 88 practised singing in six different classes, and 21 took private lessons. The number of those study- ing the pianoforte was 82, of whom nine were found to be lacking in talent, and after a fair trial were dropped. Eight studied the organ, and 32 pursued the subjects of harmony and composition in eight different classes. Thirteen studied the different brass in- struments, and seven others had a trial on the same but were un- successful. Ten practised on the clarinet, 2 the flute and 7 the violin. Thirty studied the history of music and musical literature.
This statement gives an idea of what has been done in the musical department during the past year, of the extent of our course of instruction, and of the general principles on which the work is conducted.
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Our pupils are carefully trained both in the technic and in the science of music. While they learn how to play or sing, they acquire also a knowledge of the history of the art, of its meaning and object, of the philosophy of its organic structure and of the aesthetic elements that underlie it In other words, they are taught to deal in scientific principles, to classify and arrange these in a systematic manner, and to apply them to the actual production of antici- pated results.
The study of the theory of music is considered of paramount importance, and due attention is paid to it. The main object in all efforts is to secure thor- oughness and not mere effect, to make well-trained musicians rather than brilliant performers, interpret- ers rather than copyists. But, in order to attain a high degree of artistic refinement and critical taste, the pupils must have, in addition to the best external advantages, a heart and an imagination within. As Vauvenargues expresses it, —
Pour avoir du gout, il faut avoir de Tame.
The art of teaching music is making rapid strides in the right direction. The old methods, which aimed chiefly at the acquisition of a perfect but soul- less tcchuiqiie by means of long and dreary practice and of finger tactics, are relentlessly condemned by all enlightened and able instructors, as tending to dwarf the mind and kill the spirit. In these days the most successful teachers are those who keep pace
69
with progress and know how to put vital interest into their subject, how to develop and train the musical susceptibilities of the students, and how to cultivate a love for the art and an intelligent discrimination with regard to it. Genuine interest and advance- ment in music go hand in hand, and both are meas- ured by the pleasure and enjoyment taken in its study.
In order to give the pupils that broad and substan- tial musical culture which includes much more than the mere ability to play or sing mechanically, oppor- tunities for their attendance upon concerts, recitals, oratorios and operas of a high order of merit have been eagerly sought for, and liberally granted to them. At a large number of fine performances the doors have been freely opened to them, and they have been everywhere received with considerate kind- ness and evident pleasure. For these favors, as well as for several excellent entertainments given in our own hall by musicians of great merit, we are under lasting obligations to the eminent artists, and to the societies, proprietors and managers, whose names are gratefully recorded in the list of acknowledgments.
But, while there is no lack of appreciation of these advantages nor want of demand for their increase, we should not lose sight of the fact, that the best and most efficacious theoretical and practical training in the art of the " accord of sweet sounds " is far from being all sufficient in itself to bring our graduates into close relations with people of character and re-
70
finement and secure for them a place among the better classes of society. For the accomplishment of this end, in addition to a certain degree of excellence in their profession, they require the stimulus of keen sensibilities and that peculiar power of a thoroughly developed and well-informed mind, which alone can vitalize and fructify all special attainments. Hence the study of music must ever be inseparable from that liberal general education, which insures intellectual poise and vigor, and which is the only substantial basis of a high art product. The need of a broad culture for a musician is universally acknowledged. The teacher or performer cannot be disembodied from the man, and the latter must be learned and many-sided. His outlook must be infinitely wider than the horizon of his practising room. It is abso- lutely necessary for him to be in touch with the scien- tific thought and familiar with all the social problems and moral movements of his time. He must possess a large fund of sreneral information, and be able to talk intelligently and accurately on topics not con- nected with his profession. He must be versed in mathematics, in philosophy, in history and in what is best in literature, so that he may think precisely, judge correctly and decide wisely. The blind person who starts out with the idea, that music is all to him, and that it is a waste of time to quit the piano stool and devote a part of every day to other studies, will become a sad victim of monstrous onesidedness and a pitiable specimen of an artistic fool. Moreover, let it
71
be remembered, that those alone revel in all the delights of the art divine, who do not pass into them through the outer gate of emotional fancy and techni- cal drill, but approach them through the intellectual door, which leads to their inner courts.
During the past year four new Knabe piano-fortes and several clarinets have been added to our collec- tion of instruments, which is frequently replenished and enlarged.
There has been no change in the corps of resident instructors ; but it is with deep regret, that I am obliged to report the retirement of Mr. George J. Parker, the well known tenor singer and artist, from the position of principal teacher in vocal music, which he occupied in our school during the last six years. Mr. Parker is a very great loss to us. Aside from the excellence of his work and the superior character of his methods of teaching, his connection with the institution has been very advantageous and exceed- ingly valuable in various other ways. He took a real interest in his pupils, and when occasion seemed to require it, he used his personal influence freely to promote the welfare of those among them who were in need of his help. Every year he gave a series of fine concerts in our hall, assisted by some of the distinguished members of his profession, who were willing to respond readily to his calls and volunteer their services. His extensive acquaintance among the leading musicians of Boston enabled him to bring to their notice the nature of the work of this estab-
72
lishment, and correct some of their mistaken views in regard to the capacities of our scholars. Mr. Parker's resignation was wholly due to the increasing demands on his time. Mr. George W. Want, a tenor singer who possesses a sweet voice, has been appointed to fill the vacancy.
Before taking leave of this topic, I deem it my duty to lay aside all personal considerations and in- dulge in a few remarks on the exact state of things in this department. The true interests of the school render it imperative that I should do so.
This department offers superior opportunities for the study and practice of music. Its new quarters are unsurpassed both in the amount of conveniences and the quality of accommodations. Its work is carried on by a corps of faithful and well-trained teachers, and its facilities for furnishing a thorough musical educa- tion are not equalled by those afforded in any kin- dred institution. Yet, with all these advantages, it is not nearly as strong and perfect as it should be. It lacks that directing power and enterprising spirit which are indispensable to steady progress. It is moving on languidly and not marching forward vigor- ously. The propelling force of enthusiasm is absent from it. Evidently it needs complete reorganization and reconstruction, otherwise it cannot keep abreast of the times. The staff of instructors should be strengthened by the addition of persons of undis- puted ability and high professional attainments, who would infuse new life and energy into its composition.
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Moreover, the girls' section of the music department should be entirely separated from that of the boys, and placed in charge of a musician of broad views, liberal education, executive ability, active tempera- ment and acknowledged standing among the leading members of his calling. I am aware, that these changes and improvements will involve a still further increase of expense, and the latter is already very large ; but I hope, that they will come to pass ere long, and that their execution will not be indefinitely deferred for want of the requisite means.
Tuning Department.
The wakeful bird Sings darkling, and, in shadiest cover hid, Tunes her nocturnal note. — Milton.
This department has opened a wide door to the activities of our graduates and enlarged the circle of their employments and profitable occupations.
Both in Europe and in this country the blind have proved, that they possess peculiar qualifications for tuning an instrument, endowed as they often are with the fine discernment and delicate ear and touch so needful in this work.
A large number of our graduates are engaged in this field of labor, and there is ample room for many more. Nor is there any danger of its being con- tracted or narrowed in the immediate future. On the contrary, there is a most promising prospect for its enlargement. As the country grows in prosperity,
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and the study of music becomes more universal, and piano-fortes and organs are in more general use, there will be an increasing demand for competent tuners.
Tuning is an art in itself. The manual work re- quired in its performance is calculated to render it healthful, and as it demands some mental application, there is much to interest and reward the laborers with the satisfaction of immediate results.
For the study of this art the institution affords un- rivalled opportunities. Nothing seems to be wanting either in the arrangements for teaching or in the equipment of the department. Theory and practice go hand in hand. Thorough and systematic instruc- tion is regularly given by persons of long experience and marked ability, and there is a sufficient supply of tools, models and mechanical appliances. The ap- prentices are provided with the necessary facilities for acquiring a knowledge of the construction of a piano- forte, and become familiar with the anatomy of its complicated action, through which the impulse of the finger on the key is transmitted to the vibrating strings. They also study the properties and effect of musical sounds, and are more or less acquainted with the laws of acoustics. Moreover, the great number of instruments, which belong to the establishment and are in constant use, enable the learners to apply their knowledge as fast as it is obtained.
Of the thirteen pupils who received instruction in tuning during the year, three graduated at its close.
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The pianofortes of the pubHc schools of Boston (which have increased from 128 to 161) are still in- trusted to the care of our tuners, who have also a considerable amount of patronage from some of the best families of the city and of the suburban districts within a radius of ten miles.
The success of the graduates of this department is a convincing testimony to its practical value to those who complete the course of instruction therein given. In this are now included lessons on the tuning of reed organs by a special teacher.
Almost without exception, our graduates are doing well, and one of them, who has recently established himself in Worcester, has just been awarded the con- tract for tuning the pianofortes in the public schools of that city.
This department has been removed to its special section of the premises provided for the music de- partment in the new building, where it now occupies eight rooms for the practice of tuning, and a large and commodious shop, 18 x 24 feet in dimension fitted up with all the necessary conveniences and fur- nished with the materials required for repairing. Its supply of models is to be largely increased by the ad- dition of new ones. Steps have already been taken for the accomplishment of this purpose, and we shall soon have a complete set of models of the actions of all pianos made by the leading manufacturers of the country.
Several pianofortes for the practice of tuning have
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been added to our stock of instruments during the year, including one new upright. The latter is much appreciated here, for it gives the learner a kind of training needful in his future work, but which is only imperfectly afforded to him, if his practice is confined exclusively to old and worn instruments.
Department of Manual Training.
No man is born into the world whose work
Is not born with him ; there is always work
And tools to work withal, for those who will ;
And blessed are the horny hands of toil. — Lowell.
The experience of the officers of this institution has convinced them that manual training is an educa- tional agency well adapted to practical ends, and also to the purpose of developing mental power and of preparing the way to useful occupation, which is " the armor of the soul."
If the main object of the school be to fit and equip the pupils for the activities of life, this end cannot be attained by developing the mind exclusively. For in most of the pursuits, in which men and women engage, the hand must often come to the assistance of the brain, and must be employed in practical uses for which skill is necessary. Even to the most intel- lectual among the pupils, the power over inanimate things which is gained by manipulation, together with a knowledge of the proper way to handle tools, will be of great advantage.
In view of these facts, manual training continues
11
to receive special attention in our school. It is classed among the prime factors of our system of education. Like physical culture, it is an integral part of our curriculum and not an annex to it.
Of all the educational systems of manual training sloyd seems to be the best and most suitable for our pupils. It is the thing which we have been seeking for a long time. It is the ladder which leads from the elementary manipulations and simple exercises devised by Froebel and his disciples up to technical skill and mechanical dexterity. Its claims of superi- ority are firmly established by actual experience and not merely by a priori reasoning. Its chief purpose is not to produce useful articles of carpentry and joinery, but to educe the latent aptitudes of the learners and to form human beings of higher useful- ness and greater potentialities. It is the kindergar- ten keeping pace with the physical, mental and moral needs as they are unfolded in the growth of the chil- dren. It fosters a love of labor and an appreciation of industry and persistence. It promotes self reli- ance, and creates respect for honest bodily toil. It instils a taste for work in general. It develops the sense of order, exactness, precision, cleanliness and economy, and promotes general dexterity. It culti- vates perseverance and the power of concentration, and trains the perceptive, analytical, constructive and inventive faculties. Lastly, it strengthens the body and nurtures the aesthetic sense.
Sloyd accomplishes all these things more effectu-
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ally than any other system of manual training, be- cause it aims to interest the pupil, adapting the exercises to his mental and physical ability by means of careful methodical progression, and producing a useful article as the result of the work.
During the past twelve months several needful im- provements have been made in this branch of manual training. Suitable rooms supplied with the requisite appliances have been provided, the series of models arranged by Mr. Gustaf Larrson has been increased by new additions, and the pupils have been carefully trained in the use of tools and in making various arti- cles of common use. Mr. J. H, Trybom proved to be a very successful teacher; but as the necessities of our school seemed to require more time than he could spare from other engagements and devote to our work, at the end of the term we did not deem it best to renew our agreement for the ensuing year. The vacancy thus created was filled by the appoint- ment of Miss Solvi Greve, a former pupil of Mr. Larrson and an instructor of ability and experience.
In addition to sloyd a regular course of technical training has been pursued, and both boys and girls have been required to spend a part of their time each day in their respective work-rooms, and receive in- struction in such simple mechanic arts and manual occupations or domestic employments as will be of benefit to them in practical life and enable them to become useful members of their own families and of the communities to which they belong.
(^ ' cM^k^^,
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The corps of teachers in this department remains substantially the same, except for the change noted above, namely, the substitution of Miss Greve for Mr. Trybom as sloyd instructor. Mr. John H. Wright is still occupying the responsible position, which he' has held during the past twenty years and has filled with diligence and discretion. He is ever ready to lend a helping hand in all emergencies and to render efficient service. Mr. Julian H. Mabey, who has been employed in the boys' workshop since my return from Europe, proves to be a valuable assistant in more ways than one.
Miss Maria C. Moulton.
Oh, what a glory doth this world put on For him who, with a fervent heart, goes forth Under the bright and glorious sky, and looks On duties well performed, and days well spent!
— Longfellow.
At the close of the last school term our beloved and revered matron. Miss Maria C. Moulton, feeling the arduousness of her labors and the lack of suffi- cient strength to carry them on, expressed an earnest desire to resign the office, which she had held for nearly forty years, fulfilling its requirements with rare ability, uncommon dignity, consummate tact and exemplary disinterestedness and devotion.
On being informed of her intention, your board did not entertain for a moment the idea of the sev- erance of her relations with the institution, but de-
8o
cided at once by a unanimous vote to grant her leave of absence for one year and relieve her from all care and responsibility. I requested her to comply with your wishes, — which she did in her usual graceful way, — and, acting under your authority, I appointed Miss Persis N. Andrews of North Paris, Maine, to fill her place during the ensuing school year.
In reporting briefly the facts connected with the matron and her office, I cannot refrain from adding a few personal remarks with regard to the honored incumbent of the position, — a position which she has held for such a long period of time. The opportunity of giving a brief estimate both of the woman and of the nature of her services to the cause of the blind presents itself unsolicited, and I avail myself of it gladly. If any apology for my doing so be needed on the score of propriety, let me say, that a warm tribute of praise is justly due to our friend, and that the pres- ent is the best and most suitable time to pay it. While the silver cord still holds, we must not keep silent nor be scant in our testimony to her goodness and the perfection of her character.
Miss Moulton is a rara avis. She is in every inch a noble woman. Judged by the fruits of her work and by her gentle yet unvarying firmness and the commanding force of her hold upon those around her, she is a born leader and an ideal matron. She is singularly modest and unassuming. Humility is one of the most precious jewels in the diadem of her virtues.
8i
But she is constant as the northern star. Of whose true-fixed and resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament.
She possesses marked natural abilities, and her attainments, though not extraordinary, indicate the richness of the soil in which they have grown ; but her most remarkable endowment does not consist of any special intellectual distinction, any imaginative force or originality of mind, but of a character, which unites in itself the rarest gentleness and the sternest sense of duty and resolve to perform it. She is the embodiment of what is best and choicest in the Puri- tan type. Her gracious manners mask an iron will. Underneath her sweetness and gentleness is the rock of firmness. Behind her mildness and patience rises a tower of unyielding strength and decision. The following words taken from an inscription on Baron Stein's tomb, and slightly altered, may be applied to her case with peculiar fitness : —
Her nay is nay without recall ; Her yea is yea and powerful all. She gives her yea with careful heed, Her thoughts and words are well agreed.
The sense of duty is the very crown of Miss Moulton's life, and the motive power in her actions. It is the " cement that binds her whole moral edifice together." It is the regal and commanding element in her character, which gives it unity, compactness and vigor. When she sees her duty before her, she does it at all hazards and with inflexible integrity.
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The question "right or wrong " once decided in her mind, the right is followed, no matter what the sacri- fice and difficulty may be, — neither expediency nor inclination weighing one jot in the balances. She always has the moral courage to seek and speak the truth, to be just and direct, and to do her duty.
Her armor is her honest thought, And simple truth her utmost skill.
Her love of veracity and uprightness amounts to a passion. With her the summit of being is truth, and the application of it to affairs is justice. She takes no thought for aught save right and truth and love. In her estimation, —
There is nothing so kingly as kindness, And nothing so royal as truth.
Rigidly conscientious, she is at the same time mar- vellously considerate and delicate in all the relations of life. Conscience is a supreme sovereign in her moral court. To her the " still small voice," which whispers within, is of imperative import and of won- drous melody. It is the oracle of heaven and the "chamber of justice." It is the regulating and con- trolling influence of her existence. It stimulates her and sets her upon her feet, while her will holds her upright. It is a spark of celestial fire, which she keeps alive in her pure breast, and which enables her to " sit in the centre and enjoy bright day." It is a "strong siding champion " that ever attends her virtu- ous mind in its walks.
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Miss Moulton became matron of this institution January ist 1853, and her appointment may be said to have dated a new epoch in the management of its domestic affairs. She was peculiarly adapted both by temperament and training to fill the position of lady of the house and make it what it should be. No sooner had she entered the field of her labors than she began to sow the seed of reform and im- provement. Her zeal for bringing about a new order of things knew no bounds. It was not merely her time and her honest endeavor that she gave to the service of the establishment ; it was herself. She put her whole soul and heart into her work, and in the discharge of the multiform duties of her of^ce, she showed method, accuracy, power of organization and of maintaining discipline, economy, industry, knowledge of human nature, and capacity for adapt- ing means to ends. She strove to ameliorate the condition of the household and render it an ideal one. Her influence, gentle and unobtrusive, seemed to per- vade the whole establishment like air and sunshine streaming in at an open window. She devoted her energies to a constant study of how best to elevate the moral tone of the school, to purify and ennoble the lives of the inmates, and to provide comfort and permanent help for those committed to her charge. She proved herself equal to any emergency. Wise in counsel, efficient in action, always prompt, high- minded and cheerful, never despondent nor languid, she has been a steady power in the administration of
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the institution and a perpetual fountain of hope and inspiration to her associates and subordinates.
Miss Moulton's services have been long, arduous and fruitful, and her sacrifices loving, unostentatious and cordial. Her efforts have been entirely disasso- ciated from any desire for profit or personal recogni- tion. Her fealty to the institution has ever been far above all other considerations, while her relations with its great founder and director. Dr. Howe, were those of mutual esteem and affectionate regard and appreciation. She believed in him implicitly and entertained a deep respect and admiration for him. Doubtless their views differed at times. They could not be in accord always. Yet whenever she ascer- tained that he was positive in his convictions and de- termined in the execution of his plans, she carried these out scrupulously even to the minutest detail. Her course was clear and straight, and she followed it religiously. She never dreamed of changing it by indirect means, or of deviating from it by taking advantage of his absence or of other circumstances. Ambitious schemers, or small souls and narrow minds, who, for the sake of riding their petty hobbies do not hesitate to jeopardize common honesty, resort to such practices ; but she abhors them, and looks upon them with contempt. Loyalty is the essence of her moral and mental constitution. It is the motto of her life and the guide of her actions. More sacredly than any other of Dr. Howe's coworkers does she cherish his memory and preserve in her heart the
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record of a noble life fragrant with uses and filled with those actions of the just, which —
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.
Miss Moulton's considerate kindness and delicate regard for those around her render her extremely dear to all. She is solicitous for the comfort and convenience of every one except herself. She is thor- oughly refined from all base dross of devotedness to herself or to her own interests. She never seems to think, feel or act from a selfish motive. Her words are so full of love and concern for others, of affection and sympathy, of ripe experience and mellow wisdom, that her listeners are constantly gathering up and storing away perennial blossoms of thoughtfulness and generosity, of self-forgetfulness and consecration to duty, of truth and reverence. Her sitting-room is considered by the inmates of the institution as the most attractive spot in the whole house. It is not only what she says and does that inclines footsteps to her door; it is chiefly what she is. Those who once experience that subtle penetrating sweetness feel that they must return to bask in it again and again.
In the rare combination of high personal qualities and moral worth, which belong to Miss Moulton, we find the secret of her marvellous success, as well as of the universal love and esteem with which she is regarded by those who know her. She is in the highest sense a lady — a true
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Woman to whom rare gifts are lent —
But womanhood first of all ; And that so strong she is content
By that to stand, or fall !
Her womanhood is her greatest power. Naturally genial, courteous, urbane and candid, the exacting de- mands of her work and the peculiar requirements of her position helped to bring these characteristics to unusual perfection. Herein also lies another factor which has contributed not a little to the good name of the institution. The friends and relatives of the pupils could not converse with her even for a few minutes without feeling, that this kindly sympathetic person was one to whom the care of their children might safely be intrusted.
These virtues fitted Miss Moulton in an eminent degree to be the head of a large family. The mem- bers of our household one and all have been privi- leged and beyond measure blessed in having a worthy chief and helper of that apostolic order, who are eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, comfort to the distressed and joy to the sorrowful. What matters it if she is not widely known to the world ?
The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,
Whose deeds both great and small. Are close-knit strands of an unbroken thread
Where love ennobles all. The world may sound no trumpets, ring no bells. The book of life the shining record tells.
Miss Moulton's career has been truly remarkable.
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Her work ever done from her heart and in the love flowing from it and never perfunctorily, is so con- spicuous in its thoroughness and completeness, that it needs no commendation and explanation. It speaks eloquently for itself. It also tells the story of the quality of her achievements and of the value of her services, and determines her position in the ranks of the benefactors of the blind. There she holds a place next to that of the illustrious founder and or- ganizer of the institution, and her right to remain permanently in this position is incontestable. In mentioning her name either in writing or in conversa- tion. Dr. Howe often called her " Saint Moulton." There are few persons to whom this title is more applicable than it is to her. She certainly stands among the saints, and her example will continue to work miracles in the souls of others. She is a per- petual spring of goodness and benevolence and faith and self-denial. To use Byron's words, she —
Stands like the sun, and all which rolls around Drinks life and light and glory from her aspect.
The very thought of her will enrich our lives. She has raised the standard of noble and true existence. She has made virtue and self-control and modesty and cheerful obedience more possible for those who came in contact with her. The beauty of her char- acter has pierced to the centre of all shams and petty weaknesses, and it will still continue to help many to overthrow their false gods. Her life is like a track of
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light. Her example is an inspiration. In her pres- ence her associates and subordinates learn to respect themselves, to admire justice, to honor dignity, to love purity, to worship truth, to value humility and to ap- preciate self-sacrifice. She gave moral tone to her co- workers and elevated all their aspirations. Hers is —
The saintly calm that wears the crown
Of grateful hearts and helpful years, That shames poor ambitions down,
And lifts from passions and from fears; That gently softens into tune
The discords of our jarring ways, And mingles with the verduous June
The ripeness of October days.
Who can know her and not be helped by the pattern she has set of how to live by the things of the spirit }
Though not in active service for the present, Miss Moulton is still with us, an adviser and dear friend whom we love and cherish, and whom we cannot spare from our councils, our daily life and our affec- tions.
The Brain of Laura Bridgman.
The brain contains ten thousand cells,
In each some active fancy dwells.
— Prior.
In the fifty-ninth report of this institution was pub- lished an abstract of a paper by Henry H. Donaldson, Ph.D., entitled " Anatomical observations on the
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brain and several sense-organs of the blind deaf-mute, Laura Dewey Bridgman." A second paper, record- ing the results of further study, has been published by Dr. Donaldson in the " American Journal of Psychology," from which he has kindly furnished the following abstract for this report : —
The examination of the thickness of the cerebral cortex may be summarized as follows :
1 . General.
1. No final figures can be given for the average thickness of the fresh normal cortex. The various investigators differ widely in their results. My own results agree most closely with those of Jensen. ,
2. Persons with an acquired defect of the central nervous sys- tem have a thinner cortex than normal persons.
3. Females have a slightly thinner cortex than males. Differ- ence less than one per cent.
4. The right hemisphere (normally) has a cortex slightly less thick than the left. Maximum difference seven per cent.
2. Special.
1. The cortex of Laura Bridgman was abnormally thin, having but eighty-nine per cent, of the thickness of that of the controls. If we suppose that in its other dimensions the cortex was similarly reduced in development, i.e., by eleven per cent, in each linear measurement, then its normal extent might have been 246,808 sq. mm., instead of 200,202.5 sq. mm., as found. This estimate is similar to some of those made by the Italian observers, Calori and De Regibus.
2. The right hemisphere had on the average the thinner cor- tex, especially to be associated with the defective visual area.
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3- The thinning in the motor areas was not so well marked as in the areas for the defective senses.
4. The cortex of motor speech centre was not thin.
5. The cortex of the area for dermal sensations was well de- veloped.
6. The auditory areas on both sides and visual area on right side were remarkably thin.
7. The area for taste and smell was thin. This is associ- ated with the generally undeveloped state of the temporal lobe.
3. Histological.
1. The cortex of Laura Bridgman contained an abnormally small number of large nerve cells — i.e., cells 12 u or more in transverse basal diameter.
2. There were fewer nerve cells in the samples from the right than in those from the left hemisphere.
3. The deficiency of nerve cells was not so well marked in the motor as in the sensory areas.
4. In the centre for motor speech the number of nerve cells was abnormally small.
5. The number of nerve cells was very small in the auditory areas, both sides, and in the visual area on the right side.
6. Some diminution in the number of cells existed in the area for taste and smell. The region was generally undevel- oped.
7. The small number of cells was associated with small size of the largest cells.
The persistence of vision, though in a very defective form, was of great importance to the full development of the visual cortex, e.g.., right eye and left visual area, in Laura.
The examination of the olfactory mucous membrane led Dr. Getchell to the following results : —
I. The ethmoid bone and the mucous membrane covering it have suffered from inflammatory disease, which partially affected the left side. 2. This disease resulted in an excessive production
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of connective tissue, and in one area, the left superior meatus, there had been formed a fibrous tumor. The epithelium was generally and considerably diseased. The nerves contained an excess of connective tissue, but were otherwise normal. 3. When two years old Laura had scarlet-fever, which left her anosmic and with severe nasal catarrh. She partially recovered from both these conditions. 4. The anosmia was due to the occlusion of the left olfactory area by the union of the mucous membrane of the septum with that of the superior turbinated body, and also to the action of the inflamed mucous membrane upon the nerves of the right olfactory region. Partial recovery resulted from subsi- dence of this inflammation.
Dr. W. S. Bryant made the examination of the petrous bones. He states that nothing pathological could be definitely made out in either the cochleas or semi-circular canals. As the original preservation of the specimens had been in Miiller's fluid only, they were not in the best condition for a fine histological examina- tion.
As the case stands, the inflammation of the middle ear was the occasion of the deafness. The authorities on the subject state that absolute deafness does not follow disease of the middle ear alone. Therefore there is something here to be explained by fur- ther investigation.
The examination of the cranial nerves ("The size of several cranial nerves in man, as indicated by the areas of their cross sec- tions," reprinted by the " American Journal of Psychology," Vol. IV., No. 2, December, 1891, pp. 224-229) showed that the olfac- tory bulbs and tracts are small ; that the optic nerves — especially the left optic — are very small; and that the third nerves are nor- mal in size.
Taking advantage of the fact that the thickness of the cortex in the occipital region was different on the two sides of the brain, a study of the extent of the thin cortex on the right side was made, with the purpose of defining the extent of the visual area (on the extent of the visual cortex in man, as deduced from the
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study of Laura Bridgman's brain, the "American Journal of Psychology," Vol. IV., No. 4, August, 1892).
Without giving the boundaries in technical terms, it can be said that the cuneus, part of the lingual gyrus, the occipital pole and the region of the angular gyrus are all involved, and that the area thus marked out coincides remarkably with that determined by the method of cortical lesions as figured by Gowers, for example.
5. Conclusion.
From these fragmentary observations, which leave so many points connected with this special case still undecided, it will be advantageous to construct some sort of general picture.
The anatomical condition was that of a normal brain, in which the olfactory bulbs and nerves, the optic nerves, the auditory nerves, and possibly the glossopharyngeal, had all been more or less destroyed at their peripheral ends. This destruction caused a degeneration, most marked in the optic nerves, which extended towards the centres and involved them indirectly. This condition has left its mark more or less plainly on the whole brain, as indi- cated by the extent and thickness of the cerebral cortex, and especially by the cortex connected with these deficient sensory nerves. The physiological effect of the peripheral lesions, as I conceive it, was to retard growth in the centres, cortical and sub- cortical, which were thus involved, and also to interfere with, if not entirely prevent, the formation of some of the association tracts.
To be sure, this case represents a maximum loss in these de- fective senses with a minimum amount of central disturbance, thus offering the very best sort of opportunity for education by way of the surviving senses. At the same time, we must imagine the hemispheres to have been traversed in every direction by partly or completely closed pathways. The brain was simpler than that of a normal person, and Laura was shut off from those cross ref- erences between her several senses, which usually so facilitate the acquisition of information and the process of thought. Mental
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association was for her limited to various phases of the dermal sensations and the minor and imperfect senses of taste and smell. Yet, from their fundamental and protean character, the dermal senses are perhaps the only ones on which alone the intellect could have lived. We are thus brought back to Sanford's conclu- sion, as derived from the study of her writings : " She was eccen- tric, not defective. She lacked certain data of thought, but not in a very marked way, the power to use what data she had."
One word more upon the cortex. The deficiency in the motor speech centre is mainly macroscopic, as far as the third frontal gyrus is concerned. The motor centre there has lost some, but not all, of its associative connections. Histologically it was slightly deficient. The lesion there was so different from that of the sensory centres that a histological difference ought not, perhaps, to be surprising. The cortex of the sensory centres was not sunken below the surrounding level, though the gyri were slender and flat- tened. Possibly in this sinking in a motor area and the absence of the same in the sensory areas we have a suggestive difference in the reaction of the several portions of the cortex.
Finally, the deficiency was not so very great, even in those areas where it was most marked ; and the question arises as to what sort of occupation the cells in those areas had, which would thus justify their prolonged existence. If they were thrown entirely out of function, it is not easy to see how they could last so well for nearly sixty years. In some way, then, they may have taken a slight part in the cerebral activity, but it was so slight that their specific reactions did not rise into consciousness; for, though Laura had some light perception up to her eighth year, she ap- parently had no visual memories, whereas those who have retained full vision up to four and a half or five years of age, and then be- come blind, do usually remember in terms of vision.
All which is respectfully submitted by
M. ANAGNOS.
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Miss Mary Crocker Paddock.
During the past year, there were laid away to rest the mortal remains of one of the most remarkable and disinter- ested women ever connected with the Perkins Institution. This is a strong statement, for the teachers and employes here have ever been noted for their ability and unselfish spirit. No one who knew Mary Crocker Paddock, no one who knew and understood her, could fail to admire her many noble traits of character — her sterling integrity and devotion to principle, her enthusiasm, zeal and energy, her great quickness and tireless activity, her strong affection for her friends and life-long devotion to them and to their in- terests. "A strong, true, New England soul," she was indeed, and in spite of her beauty of person, or rather per- haps, lending piquancy to it, a certain quaint and delightful flavor of old New England characterized her and her ways.
Many and faithful were her years of service at the institu- tion as teacher, companion to Laura Bridgman, amanuensis to Dr. Howe, and in later years, as matron in one of the cottages.
Entering the institution as a young woman of little more than twenty years of age, she soon learned to look up to the honored head of the establishment with deep and affection- ate devotion. When, many years later, age, illness and suf- fering began to weigh upon her friend and benefactor. Miss Paddock, then still in the prime of life, health, and strength, became his devoted nurse and companion, thus endearing herself more than ever to his family, and earning their deep- est gratitude, their warmest affection.
She possessed a remarkable memory, and her stories of Dr. Howe, and the early days of the institution, were ex- tremely vivid, and told in a graphic and delightful way, that
95
cannot alas ! be reproduced on paper. The writer of this sketch, together with her sister, Mrs. Maud Howe Elliott, were fortunately able to avail themselves of many of Miss Paddock's most interesting reminiscences for their forth- coming work on Laura Bridgman. From among them, the following may be quoted.
Miss Paddock's First Meeting with Dr. Howe.
In the year 1835, Dr. Howe gave a lecture on the educa- tion of the blind before the " American Institute of Instruc- tion," an association which corresponded to what is now called a teachers' convention. At the close of his address, he invited those present to visit the institution. Among those of his hearers who accepted the invitation was a girl of fourteen who had come from her home in East Dennis, Cape Cod, to visit Boston. In speaking of Dr. Howe as he appeared at this meeting. Miss Paddock said fifty-five years later, "I was much struck by his manner and voice. His manner was quiet, and yet it impressed one. He was very handsome." When she visited the school, which was then on Pearl street, she was struck most of all by the fact that the scholars were made to think. Ten or twelve years after this time, she entered the institution as a teacher. Of the con- dition of the pupils at that time we give the following ac- count.
In the early days of the institution, pupils came who did not know how to dress themselves, and to whom it was a great hardship to go out to walk, as they were little accus- tomed to use their muscles. Some of these were grown women. Delilah Hall, from Bangor, Maine, came to the institution at eighteen years of age. She had been kept in an attic, and sat in a rocking-chair, her parents (it was re- ported) being ashamed to have it known that they had a
96
blind child. She was very unsteady on her feet — her hands and feet were like an infant's from want of use. She had, however, a finely shaped head, the best in the institution. The poor girl had great difficulty in learning to dress her- self. "I wish my stockings were in heaven," said she — so much trouble did she have in putting them on. It seemed as if her very bones, or perhaps only her muscles, were soft from want of exercise. She had also a defect in her palate, which made her talk very indistinctly. She learned, how- ever, to read well.
Silea Church was another quaint individual, who looked awkward and uncouth enough, but had perseverance and some mental capacity. She was of a highly nervous tempera- ment. When she came to the institution she brought a little clay pipe in her pocket, which she had been accustomed to smoke. She was then in her teens. She had to be watched somewhat lest she should smoke. She had a habit of mak- ing figures out of pieces of wood, by chewing them with her teeth ! Miss Paddock thought, in later years, that Silea might perhaps have become a sculptor, with proper training. Miss Paddock herself was very young at this time, however, (it was when she first came to the institution) and her only thought was to carry out the general idea of making the blind like other people. Hence she discouraged Silea's gnawing and image-making propensities.
About this time Dr. Howe had been making quite a commotion in the public schools, by criticising their methods, etc. A committee of gentlemen visited the institution, no doubt to see whether they could find any flaws in the work done or the methods employed there. Miss Paddock's arith- metic class was called up, and asked to recite the lesson they had recited that morning. It was on interest and discount. The examiner pitched upon Silea, among others, to answer
97
his questions, because she looked so unpromising. Silea was all wrought up ; the matter had not been quite clear to her in the morning, but her excitement, and the questions put to her, made it all plain, and she answered satisfactorily. "Well," said the examiner, " I don't care how they stand in these higher branches, I want to see how they stand in first principles." With that, he went back and questioned the scholars on numeration, etc, etc. The class had been re- viewing recently, however, and he could not shake them there. The verdict of the committee was that there was not one pupil in ten in the public schools who could exj^lain these matters so clearly. " You'd better say there is not one teacher in ten," quoth another member of the com- mittee, and so the matter ended, to the credit of the institu- tion, Miss Paddock, and Silea.
Silea thought it was very hard to have to go out to walk, so Miss Paddock said she herself would lead her, since the leaders were not satisfactory to Silea. It seems strange to us now to recall this condition of things, which is plainly in- dicated in Dr. Howe's reports ; but Miss Paddock's realistic account, giving facts and details, shows us how different was the status of the blind at that time, and points out the im- mense improvement which education has made in their con- dition. In those days they were willing to learn to read, because they did not want to be thought fools, but they ob- jected to walking in the street. They did not think it ought to be expected of them as they were blind. In the same way they did not think that they ought to take care of their rooms, or do any work, because they were blind. Miss Pad- dock dragged out Silea, who had never been to walk in the streets before. She made herself as heavy as lead and hung back. The energetic leader would allow the girl to stop when the latter declared that she could go no further. Then
9S
presently Miss Paddock would say, " now start out, the left foot before the right." And so the pupils were gradually accustomed to walk and to work, and to strengthen those flabby unused muscles.
Professor Guyot came to this country to lecture, before the publication of his work on geography — at least before the English version of it had been produced. Miss Paddock had read the reports of his lectures in the newspapers, and applied them in her lessons to her blind pupils. The Pro- fessor himself happened to visit the institution, and this particular class, while the children were having a lesson in physical geography, on the globe. Miss Paddock did not recognize the distinguished visitor, as she was unfamiliar with the pronunciation of French and had imagined his name to be Giyotte. She therefore innocently proceeded with hearing the lesson. Professor Guyot was much sur- prised and pleased to find that the blind pupils had so good a notion of the earth's surface — of the ranges of mountains, directions of the rivers, elevations and depressions, etc. He said to Professor Felton, afterwards president of Harvard University, who was with him, "I do not think that even in the universities, the young men have as correct an idea of the earth's surface, as these blind scholars have!"
Mrs. Maud Howe Elliott, in a warm and affectionate tribute to the subject of this sketch thus describes her.
Miss Paddock was a woman of a rare and interesting character. She showed an unselfish devotion for the friend to whose service she devoted the greater part of her life. His children remem- ber her with a profound affection and gratitude. Her small, energetic figure, elastic, tireless, swift of foot, deft of hand, her finely modelled head with its wealth of rich auburn hair, her fresh face with its regular features and kindled brown eyes, her cheery ringing voice, are all indelibly impressed upon their memorj'.
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She is one of the foremost figures in the memory book of " lang syne," and when its pages are turned back to the old days at Green Peace and Lawton's Valley, her face looks out from many a leaf.
The many labors of her long, useful and cheerful life are now over. But its lesson of hope, energy and cheer remains with us, and the thought of her who has gone from our midst nerves us to do, to dare, to bear, and still to enjoy. For like the general, whose devoted lieutenant she was, her life motto was
Laborare est orare.
To labor is to pray.
FLORENCE HOWE HALL.
LIST OF PUPILS.
Bannon, Alice M. Barrows, Estella E. Boyle, Matilda J. Brecker, Virginia R. Brodie, Mary. Brown, Grace L. Carr, Emma L. Case, Laura B. Caulfield, Elizabeth E. Clark, M. Eva. Delesdernier, Corinne. DeLong, Mabel. Dover, Isabella. Duggan, Katie J. Emory, Gertrude E. Eylward, Josephine. Flaherty, Margaret. Fogarty, Margaret M. Foss, Jennie. French, Mattie E. Higgins, Mary L. Hoisington, Mary H. Howard, Lily B. Joslyn, Edna A. Keller, Helen A. Kent, Bessie Eva. Keyes, Teresa J.
Knowlton, Etta F. Lord, Amade'e. Lowe, Daisy L. McCarthy, Margaret E. Morgan, Clara. Morse, Maria T. Murphy, Maria J. Murtha, Mary Ann. Neff, Call a A. Nickles, Harriet A. Noble, Annie K. Norris, Hattie E. Ousley, Emma. Park, Mary S. Perry, Ellen. Ramsdell, Harriet M. Reed, Nellie Edna. Rich, Lottie B. Ricker, Annie S. Risser, Mary A. Rock, Ellen L. Roeske, Julia M. B. Smith, Florence G. Snow, Alberta M. Snow, Grace Ella. Thomas, Edith M. Tierney, Mary E.
lOI
Tisdale, Mattie G. Tomlinson, Sarah E. Walcott, Etta A. Warrener, Louisa. Welfoot, Florence E. West, Rose A. Wilbur, Carrie M. Wilson, Eva C. Andrews, Wallace E. Baker, Frank G. Backman, J. Victor. Beckman, J. Arthur. Black, Charles. Bond, Samuel C. Bond, William H. Brinn, Frederick C. Burke, Henry G. Burnham, John N. Campbell, Joseph G. Carney, Frederick. Clare, John J. Clark, Frank A. Clark, J. Everett. Clennan, William T. Cobb, Charles H. Coffey, James. Corliss, Albert F. Davis, James S. Dayton, Reuben G. Devlin, Neil J. Dutra, Joseph J. Ellis, William C. Farrell, John. Forrester, Charles. Giesler, John H.
Girard, R. George. Gosselin, Wilfred. Harmon, Everett M. Heath, William Edward. Henley, John. Hill, Henry. Hogan, George H. Ingalls, Jesse A. Irving, Frederick. Jackson, Clarence A. Jennings, Harry A. Kenyon, Harry C. Kerner, Isaac. Lamar, Charles. Lester, James. Leutz, Theodore C. Lynch, William. Madsen, John. Mannix, Lawrence P. McCarthy, Daniel. Meagher, William H. Messer, William. Miles, Henry R. W. Miller, Reuel E. Minor, John F. Mozealous, Harry E. Muldoon, Fred. J. Newton, Wesley E. O'Brien, Francis J. L. O'Connell, John P. Pickering, Jesse E. Putnam, Herbert A. Rasmussen, Peter A. Reynolds, Henry L. Riley, Frank Edward.
Robair, Charles. Rochford, Thomas. Sabins, Weston G. Sherman, Frank C. Smalley, Frank H.- Smith. Eugene S. Strout, Herbert A. Sullivan, Michael. Tatiyopa, Edward. Tracy, Merle Elliott.
I02
Trask, Willis E. Tucker, Henry R. Tumblety, Michael. Walsh, Joseph. Warburton, John H. Washington, George. Weaver, Frank V. White, Richard. Wrinn, Owen E.
SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Kindergarten for the Blind
SEPTEMBER 30, 1892
BOSTON
PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS
1893
iiommt, lasst uns btn V;inOtin Icbcn. FRIEDRICH FROEBEL.
OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION 1892-93.
SAMUEL ELIOT, LL.D., President. JOHN CUMMINGS, Vke-Fresident. EDWARD JACKSON, Treasurer. M. ANAGNOS, Secretary,
BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
EDWARD BROOKS.
JOHN S. DWIGHT.
WILLIAM ENDICOTT, Jr.
JOSEPH B. GLOVER.
J. THEODORE HEARD, M.D.
ANDREW P. PEABODY, D.D.
EDWARD N. PERKINS. WM. L. RICHARDSON, M.D. LEVERETT SALTONSTALL. THOMAS F. TEMPLE. S. LOTHROP THORNDIKE. GEORGE W. WALES.
LADIES' VISITING COMMITTEE.
Mrs. Elizabeth C. Agassiz. Mrs. William Appleton. Miss Caroline Derby. Mrs. Maud Howe Elliott. Miss Clara T. Endicott. Miss Olga E. Gardner.
Mrs. John C. Gray. Mrs. Thomas Mack. Mrs. E. Preble Motley. Miss Laura Norcross. Miss Edith Rotch. Miss Annie C. Warren.
OFFICERS OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
DIRECTOR.
M. ANAGNOS.
ATTENDING PHYSICIAN. HENRY W. BROUGHTON, M.D.
Miss Isabel Grebley, Matron. Mrs. J. M. Hill, Miss Nettie B. Vose, Assistant. Miss Cornelia M. 'L.ov.x^g, Assistant. Miss Effie J. Thayer, Teacher. Miss Laura A. Brown, Teacher.
Miss Fanny L. Johnson, Kindergartner.
Mrs. Sarah J. Davidson, "
Miss L. Henrietta Stratton, "
Miss Eleanor McGee, "
Miss Elfie M. Fairbanks, Music Teacher.
Miss C. C. RoESKE, Music Teacher.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINDERGARTEN.
On application of the trustees of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, the following act was passed by the legislature, March 15, 1887: —
Cammanincaltf} of iiflassacbtisetts.
In the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven.
AN ACT.
To AUTHORIZE THE PERKINS InSTITUTIO.V AND MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR
THE Blind to hold additional estate for the purpose of a Kinder- garten FOR THE Blind.
Be it enacted by the Setiate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by authority of the same, as follows : —
Section i. The Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind is authorized to establish and maintain a primary school for the education of little children, by the name of Kindergarten for the Blind, and to hold for this purpose real and personal estate.
Sect. 2. The said Kindergarten for the Blind shall be under the direction and management of the board of trustees of said corporation.
Sect. 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
House of Representatives, March 14, 18S7.
Passed to be enacted.
CHAS. J. XOVES, Speaker.
In Senate, March 15, 18S7.
Passed to be enacted.
HALSEY J. BOARDMAN, /'/-^j;V^;/A
March 15, 1SS7. Approved.
A true copy.
OLIVER AMES.
Secretary's Department, Boston, March 30, 1SS7,
Witness the Seal of the Commonwealth.
HENRY B. PEIRCE,
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
KINDERGARTEN FOR THE BLIND.
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES.
Z<9 the Members of the Corporation.
Gentlemen and Ladies : — We have the honor to present the sixth annual report of the Kinder- garten for the BHnd for the year ending Sept. 30, 1892.
The kindergarten more and more reveals itself as an essential department of our system. There are capacities of infancy and early childhood, which, if not developed then, cannot afterward be made to do their best work. While thoughts and concrete con- ceptions can best be memorized at a later period, the memory for words, facts and details, which are to furnish the materials for thous^ht and knowleds-e, is most receptive and retentive when the child first be- comes a subject for instruction, and, if not cultivated then, is apt to be defective and treacherous. Then, too, if with seeing, even more with blind children continuity of method in mental training is of prime importance. The seeing child passes through an un- broken series of classes and schools, from four or five years of age to sixteen, twenty or twenty-five, each
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stage being so arranged as to be preparatory to the next succeeding it. But, whatever home training the blind child may have, it bears no relation to that of our parent institution, which he enters with an unfit- ness that must be overcome before he can derive much positive benefit from its instruction. This is the case even under the most favorable circum- stances ; much more so in families of straitened means, where educational advantages are entirely out of the question.
There is equal need of the kindergarten on moral grounds. Those only who have been conversant with seminaries of education are aware how early character is so far formed, for good or for evil, as to be impregnable to the strongest influences of an opposite type. Of the boys who are said to be ruined at school or college, almost all leave their homes more than half ruined. At the age when a child can be admitted to our South Boston school, there are already formed habits of mind and feeling, if not of conduct, which need change and yet resist it. In families where everything else is as it should be, a blind boy or girl is almost inevitably indulged to excess, and is thus an unapt subject for our discipline, which — always kind indeed — must' be regular and exact, in order to be safely kind. Then there are many homes in which a blind child cannot be sheltered from evil, which may come in through the gates of sense that are unclosed, and which only takes a stronger hold upon the imagination and the
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memory because not dissipated by ever fresh and vivid impressions through the sense of sight.
We thus have reason to regard the kindergarten as giving certain presage of a higher grade of scholarship and character in the parent institution, when its classes shall be largely recruited from those who have passed through the preparatory course. We therefore are doubly glad to find that there is an increasing number of applications for admission to the kindergarten, and we trust that the time may not be far distant when this will be regarded as the normal route by which pupils will be expected to pass into the more ad- vanced school. But in saying this we rely upon the munificence of the men and women of Massachu- setts, who have never yet failed to meet the demands made upon them by human infirmity and need. We would say emphatically " of Massachusetts," for this is by no means a Boston institution, but has had, as its beneficiaries, fully as large a proportion of the popu- lation of the whole state as of that of its metropolis. It should also be remembered that the increase of pop- ulation in the state has never been so rapid as of late years, and that the needs of our establishment have grown as rapidly, while the funds at our command, with not a few generous donations and bequests and with the most wise and careful investment and man- agement, have not been increased in equal ratio.
I lO
Care and Training of the Children.
During the past year the kindergarten has beert conducted to the entire satisfaction of those who have had its interests specially in charge. It has been a happy home for its inmates. They have had the kindest, most watchful and most judicious care, alike as to their physical well-being and comfort and as to their moral culture ; while the teachers, never otherwise than skilful and faithful, are constantly growing into a more intimate knowledge of the fittest modes of access to minds entirely shut out from the readiest and easiest avenue of knowledge.
An unusual demand has been made upon the exec- utive ability of the matron, and on the time and labor of her associates in the care and instruction of the children, by the crowded condition of the building. Thirty -seven children have been in attendance, though there is properly room for but thirty-two; yet such has been the vigilant care-taking that there has been no accident or serious discomfort, and the health of the children has been exceptionally good through- out the year.
An Important Department.
The two new deaf, dumb and blind children, Willie Elizabeth Robin and Tommy Stringer, give ample promise of successful training, and the importance of this department of the kindergarten's work cannot be
Ill
overrated. It is a department that properly belongs to the kindergarten, for advantage must be taken of the freshness of the mental powers and of such per- ceptive faculty as the child has, else their disuse would become permanent disability. Of course only teaching power of the highest order, yet constantly growing by exercise, can penetrate the barriers which exclude such a mind from free intercourse with the outward world and with fellow-beings. At the same time, the results of such teaching are of supreme psy- chological interest and value, especially in the light which they may cast on the questions raised, but not adequately solved, by a materialistic philosophy.
New Buildings.
The rapid increase in the number of applicants who were eager to enter the kindergarten, but could not be admitted for want of room, and the urgency for the immediate removal of most of them from their surroundings, induced the trustees to undertake, early in the year, the erection of a new building similar to the present one. The plans presented by the archi- tects, Messrs. Perkins & Betton, were accepted ; but, before making contracts to carry them out, it ap- peared to us that the fourth story of the new edifice was not the best place for a hall and gymnasium, which we proposed to add thereto at an expense of about six or seven thousand dollars. Hence, after thorough consideration of the matter, it was decided,
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by a unanimous vote of the board, instead of having a hall at the top of the house, to erect a portion of what will be the middle section of the central build- ing when the plan is complete. This will afford not only opportunity for exercise, for gatherings, etc., but it will relieve the other houses from the presence of the children at times when it is necessary to throw them open for thorough ventilation. Both buildings will be completed in December. They will be dedi- cated after Christmas, and will be open to receive new pupils the first of January.
Insufficiency of Funds.
The total amount of money required for the erection and equipment of these buildings, including what has been previously expended for grading and blasting, is ^72,500. We have had the good fortune to be suc- cessful in obtaining, through the appeals of the direc- tor, of the president of the corporation, Dr. Eliot, and of Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, the sum of $51,000. The balance of $21,500 remains to be raised by fur- ther contributions.
But it is with sincere regret that we are obliged to state that this is not the end of the wants of the kinderearten. It needs more. As soon as the new building is occupied and a second household is formed equal in size to the first, the current expenses will be nearly doubled. Hence the endowment fund must be proportionately increased. About $30,000
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have been given during the past year in donations and legacies for this purpose. Two-thirds of this amount was a most munificent gift from Mrs. Warren B. Potter; $4,000 was bequeathed by the late Mrs. Lucy A. Dwight of Brookline ; $3,000 by the late Royal W. Turner of Randolph ; and $2,500 by the late Eleanor J. W. Baker of Dorchester. An addi- tional sum of $70,000 will place the kindergarten on a sound financial basis, and relieve its managers from further anxiety and constant wear and tear in strug- gling to procure the necessary means for mainten- ance, and in striving to increase the ordinary sources of income.
For this amount, as well as for the balance which is lacking to complete the building fund, we find our- selves compelled to appeal again to the public in gen- eral and to the friends and benefactors of the little blind children in particular, earnestly hoping that our request will find a generous response in the hearts of the men and women of Boston, who are noted for their benevolence, and who are ever ready to extend a helping hand to suffering humanity.
The Kindergarten in the Commencement Exercises.
Part second of the programme of the commence- ment exercises last June gave an interesting illustra- tion in work and play by the little kindergarten chil- dren, called " The Blacksmith."
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At the same time Dr. Eliot said : —
While these children are going through their preparatory exer- cises, I have the great pleasure of announcing Hon, Leverett Saltonstall, who has kindly consented to make a plea in behalf of the new kindergarten buildings. Mr. Saltonstall has long been a friend and trustee of this school, and no one can speak with a more perfect knowledge of its wants than he.
Plea by Hon. Leverett Saltonstall. Mr. Saltonstall spoke as follows : —
These children appeal to you far more eloquently than speech of mine, and it would be unbecoming in me to call your attention for one moment from their touching and wonderful work to any subject other than the kindergarten and its condition.
It seems but yesterday when Mr. Anagnos told us of the pressing need of a preparatory or infant school or kindergarten for the blind, which should receive little children, during the tender years of early childhood, when impressions are so easily fixed on them, and should rescue them oftentimes from a condition of poverty and suffering, — even from evil influences, — and place them under the care of devoted teachers, in a bright, happy home. He assured us that they would thus be saved many years of misery, that their fac- ulties would be quickened, their intellect developed during this im- pressionable age, that they would enter the parent school under far better auspices, and there begin work at a point to which it would take years of patient labor to bring them without this early train- ing. He told us of this great want, and of the vast good such a school would do. In his own earnest words he appealed to the public, and his appeal met with a generous response, in sums large and small. A fine site was selected, amply large for years to come, upon which to place one or a dozen buildings. The first was erected, which many of you have doubtless seen. This build- ing is fitted for only thirty or at most thirty-two children, but has
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now thirty-seven crowded into it, — a condition not to be tolerated. Again the appeal went forth, and the brave director again found that his confidence in the generosity of our community was not misplaced. A large sum has been raised, about $41,000, while $65,000 will be necessary to erect and equip the new buildings. But, while you were informed last year that there would be eight children to place in the new building, there are now five or six from the present one, and twenty-three new applicants who are deemed worthy of admission, making twenty-eight requiring ac- commodation. The trustees therefore decided to commence the erecting of the buildings at once, and to depend on the generosity of the people for the balance necessary to pay for it. There is in addition the amount of a previous contract of $7,500 for grading, blasting and excavating cellars to be raised, for our kindergarten is "founded upon a rock," a very solid rock, and it cannot fall.
It must not be forgotten that as soon as the new buildings are completed and occupied the endowment fund and the annual subscriptions will have to be increased, so that an adequate in- come may be received for the support of the new household.
It may be asked, why begin these buildings before the whole amount is raised.? But there are, as I have said, twenty-three poor little blind children, beside the five to be taken from the present building, knocking at our doors and begging to be taken in, enough for a new family. Most of these children are now ex- posed to such unfavorable influences that their speedy removal is imperative.
When you see the rapid unfolding of these dear little sightless, budding souls under the influence of skilful training and devoted kindness; when you think of what these children would have been had they not been rescued from their living grave ; when you re- flect for a moment on what has been brought to pass, — the miracle in unsealing the closed senses of an Edith Thomas, of a Helen Keller, that wonderful child, who finds
Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
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and the Christlike work that is being at this time undertaken for those little deaf, dumb and blind children, Tommy Stringer and Willie Robin, and ask yourselves whether you would recall the offerings you have so generously contributed toward this glorious work, is there one who would not exclaim, " rather than do this we would make a big effort to repeat them ? "
Our devoted director, whose only thought (and in him it seems an inspiration) is the intellectual advancement and happiness of these sightless children, has that faith which will remove mountains, and he has that rare faculty of inspiring others, which goes far toward accomplishing great results ; and so, with only two-thirds of the amount requisite to erect the new building, he has per- suaded the trustees to consent to begin it, and to believe, with him, that long before it is needed the necessary balance will be subscribed.
If time allowed, I would speak of this most interesting spec- tacle presented to us by these bright, intelligent pupils of the parent institution, some of whom are about to receive their diplo- mas and to enter the world. What a change has been wrought in their whole being, what a cloud has been rolled away, and what bright sunshine let in upon them, bringing vigor to mind and body, vitality and grace to their whole nature !
As some one says, " If the Perkins Institution had done nothing more than develop the system by which such a wonderful mind and heart as Helen Keller's has been rescued from darkness, it would have done, in that alone, a greater work for the world than has been accomplished by many philosophers."
But, as requested, I must confine myself to the kindergarten, — this sorely needs assistance. Will you not take up the cause and pass on the word, so that you may strengthen the arm of the director, with his corps of devoted teachers, and bring untold blessings upon the head of many a poor little sightless child now sitting alone in its dark, dreary solitude, ignorant of God, and de- prived of all intercourse with his fellow-creatures.''
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To the force and cogency of the spoken words were added the personal presence and earnest man- ner of the speaker, rendering the appeal a most im- pressive one.
After Mr. Saltonstall finished, the children made their own truly eloquent plea, by their blacksmith songs and spoken descriptions explaining the various objects which they had made so deftly in the few in- tervening minutes, — bellows, chain, horse-shoes, etc.
Little Willie Robin, the golden-haired little deaf and blind child from Texas, now eight years old, who two years ago knew only two signs, — one for some- thing to eat and one for something to drink, — had modelled an anvil. Her teacher read her fingers to the audience, and when Willie had finished talking with them she spoke with perfect clearness the word " tongs."
After this exercise the orchestra of baby players gave a "symphony"! composed for them by their music teacher, Miss Roeske, which was enthusiasti- cally re-demanded, and followed by a ripple of amaze- ment and delight all over the audience.
Willie Elizabeth Robin and Tommy Stringer.
At this point Dr. Eliot presented two of the chil- dren to the audience, and said : —
I want you to see these two children particularly, because they are deaf and dumb as well as blind, and because they came to us from distant places. They illustrate in a particularly forcible
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manner the kind and generous and earnest appeal which Mr. Sal- tonstall has this afternoon made.
This little boy is Tommy Stringer. He would at this moment be in a Pennsylvania almshouse if he were not with us. He came to us more like a little animal than a rational being; but you see that he now appears to as much advantage as any child in the kindergarten.
This little girl is Willie Robin. She comes to us from far-away Texas. We are doing a work for that distant state, yet a part of our country; but, even if beyond our country, it would still be a part of the world in which we live, and still a part of our common humanity.
I am sure you will be interested in seeing these children, and the sight of them will appeal to you in behalf of the kindergarten which cares for them.
All which is respectfully submitted,
EDWARD BROOKS, JOHN S. D WIGHT, WH^LIAM ENDICOTT, Jr., JOSEPH B. GLOVER, J. THEODORE HEARD, ANDREW P. PEABODY, EDWARD N. PERKINS, WILLIAM L. RICHARDSON, LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, THOMAS F. TEMPLE, S. LOTHROP THORNDIKE, GEORGE W. WALES,
Trustees.
KINDERGARTEN FOR THE BLIND.
SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR.
Children are the keys of paradise.
They alone are good and wise,
Because their thoughts, their very lives are prayer.
— Stoddard.
To the Board of Tnisfccs.
Gentlemen: The past year has been abundant in labors, blessings and success ; and now at its end it is a great pleasure and an agreeable duty for the undersigned to lay before you the following summary of facts and reflections as the sixth annual report of the director.
Before entering upon the details of my story, I beg leave to state at the outset, that there has been no year in our history more fertile in experience or more cheering in promise than that which has just closed.
Cherished in the warm bosom of public sympathy and upheld by numerous friends and benefactors, the kindergarten, from the date of its establishment to the present time, has been one of rich blessing to the little sightless children, for' whose benefit it was designed.
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In peace and contentment, in freedom from sick- ness and accident, and in earnest endeavor to ad- vance our cause and provide the necessary means for the education of every blind boy and girl in New England, the year now completed surpasses any former period, and the thought of it —
Doth breathe in us perpetual benediction.
We have escaped every epidemic prevailing in the neighborhood, and not a death or a single case of severe illness has occurred among the inmates of the kindergarten. The health of the family at this date is remarkably good, and all the children are happy, hearty, and improving physically, mentally and morally.
Construction of Two New Buildings.
Never to faint doth purchase what we crave.
— Shakespeare.
In May, 1887, when the kindergarten was fully organized, and its doors were opened for the recep- tion of the first group of ten little children, there seemed to be an abundance of room in it. The commodious new building, then just finished and newly consecrated to its holy work, looked so spacious, that it was generally believed and com- monly asserted that it would not be wholly occupied for some time to come, and that its accommodations were sufiiclent to satisfy all demands for a decade of years at least.
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Five months later applications for admission began to pour in, and within two years the house was filled to overflowing, although eighteen of the more ad- vanced though still tiny scholars were prematurely transferred to South Boston in the very midst of the course of their training in order to relieve the press- ure of numbers. Still the applications continued to come in with increasing frequency, and the building was crowded to its utmost capacity, and still the little children, who were in need of the benefits of the in- fant institution, but whose sole chance to gain admis- sion depended upon vacancies that might occur from time to time, were as numerous as ever.
Paradise had no room for all of them.
Such was the state of things at the kindergarten when I returned from Europe. I saw at once that the immediate enlargement of the establishment was the only practical solution of the difiiculty, and that measures ought to be taken without further delay for the accomplishment of this end. This was promptly done, and an earnest appeal was addressed to the public asking for the sum of $55,000, the amount required for the construction and equipment of a second building similar to the first.
This plea, urged with fervor and cogent arguments, and supported by an array of undisputable facts and figures, was not overlooked, nor did it fail of its pur- pose. On the contrary, it received fair consideration from our citizens, and struck a responsive chord in
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the hearts of many of them. The numerous friends and benefactors of the little sightless children rallied to their rescue, and donations laro;e and small besfan to flow in from every direction. Miss Helen C. Bradlee, whose honored name is indissolubly con- nected with the success of the infant school and will ever be blessed and praised by the blind of New England, headed the column of subscribers with an additional gift of ^10,000. Rich persons gave from their abundance and people of moderate means shared in the good work to the fullest extent of their ability. Even the poorest children in one of the kindergartens in this city managed to put together a few pennies and send them to us as a token of their sympathy and kind intentions. It is no hyperbole to state, that a universal interest was rekindled in favor of our undertaking, and that the names of those who showed great readiness to aid it were legion. To be sure the success in obtaining the requisite fund was only partial, but the way had been prepared for a complete victory. Everything indicated, that this consummation was simply a question of time ; and although there were still some clouds of doubt hang- ing on the horizon, the following words of the poet could be repeated in this connection with perfect truth : —
And even now, amid the gray, The east is brightening fast.
While the movement for raising money was going on satisfactorily, a set of plans of the proposed new
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edifice was prepared and presented by the architects, Messrs. Perkins and Betton, free of charge. These were thankfully accepted ; but as the amount of money which had been received up to that time was not sufficient to carry them out, it was not deemed wise nor safe to proceed with the work of building lest we should be forced to encroach upon the endow- ment fund, which was altogether too small in size to be allowed to suffer any curtailment.
The cause of the postponement was briefly ex- plained in the next annual report of the kinder- garten, and appeals for further contributions were re- newed with great eagerness by the president of the corporation. Dr. Samuel Eliot, by Hon. Leverett Sal- tonstall, by the treasurer, Mr. Edward Jackson, and by others. These acted like a clarion call upon the generous friends of the blind and produced the desired result. Donations began to come more frequently bringing with them cheer and encourage- ment, and as success in raising the full amount seemed to be not very distant, the trustees were finally induced to authorize the construction of a new building similar to the present one.
Meanwhile the question arose as to whether it would be better to transform the attic of this struct- ure into a hall and gymnasium at an expense of about seven thousand dollars, or to undertake the erection of a portion of what will be the middle sec- tion of the central building when the design is complete. Health, economy, foresight, convenience,
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accessibility, all combined to favor the latter alterna- tive ; and as this plan, in addition to all other con- siderations, afforded ampler facilities for physical exercise and much better accommodations for a gen- eral laundry and boiler room than its rival, it was adopted by a unanimous vote.
Work on these buildings was begun immediately, and has already reached such a degree of forward- ness as to render it sure that both of them will be finished and made ready for occupancy early in Janu- ary, 1893. The whole cost of their construction and equipment is estimated at $72,500. Through con- stant pleadings and persistent efforts the amount of about $5 1,000 has thus far been obtained. Hence a balance of about $21,500 remains to be provided for.
This debt is a most distressing load to carry, and in order to wipe it out we are compelled to address again the patrons and friends of the infant institution and ask for further assistance. We beg and entreat them to come to its aid and relieve it from a financial burden, which presses upon it so heavily and which will be a constant drain on its meagre resources. Will they do so ? Is it presuming too much upon their generosity to hope, that they will deliver it from all embarrassments and enable it to enter upon its career of enlarged usefulness free from encum- brances }
But ^?cid plura ? Why need we say more t To an enlightened community like that of New Eng- land do not the facts of the case, simply stated,
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speak more eloquently and persuasively than the longest and most elaborate argument? Is not the kindergarten cherished and its educational work heartily approved and highly appreciated by our best and most intelligent citizens, and is there any doubt as to their intention that it should be tenderly nur- tured by a benevolence as broad as the love of child- hood and firmly sustained by a faith as deep as the eternal goodness ?
We leave them to answer these questions.
Needed Increase of the Endowment Fund.
Keep striving! The winners are tliose who have striven And fought for the prize that no idler has won;
To the hands of the steadfast alone it is given, And before it is gained there is work to be done.
— Rexford.
Doubtless the payment of all debts incurred for building purposes will bring an immense relief to the managers of the kindergarten and make their hearts leap for joy. But I am grieved to be obliged .to say, that the removal of this obnoxious burden neither can nor will put an end to the demands of the infant institution. It needs more. Like a young, vigorous and growing tree, it requires a steady and sufficient supply of nutriment.
As soon as the new buildings are finished and made ready for occupancy, our doors will swing wide open to all the applicants who have been eagerly seeking and patiently waiting to become members of
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our juvenile family. New candidates for admission are constantly reported to us, and nearly all of them are of suitable age and seem to be fit subjects for education in the kindergarten. Thus we are to have under our charge a much larger number of children than ever before. A second household is to be formed equal in size to the first, and the requisite means for its maintenance must be provided. Pri- mary classes are to be added to those of the kinder- garten, and the teachers and other persons already engaged to carry on the new work, will make our list of officers and employes twice as large as it has been during the past year.
It is needless to observe, that this enlargement of the establishment and the extension of its operations will involve a corresponding increase in the cost of its support. As a matter of course the current ex- penses will be actually doubled as soon as the reor- ganization is effected. This is perfectly clear.
How are the necessary funds to be obtained ?
This question is a weighty one. It shows, that we are standing on the threshold of graver responsibilities than any which have heretofore confronted us. A financial gap in the shape of an annual deficit will ere long yawn before us and cause a sort of paralytic sen- sation to run through the whole organism. This peril- ous chasm we must bridge over in some way, in order to enable the kindergarten to keep its gates ajar, to pursue its onward course uninterruptedly and to reach in its work the highest standard which is attainable.
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The situation is too serious to be met by half meas- ures and temporary expedients. It demands emphat- ically the radical remedy, which a regular, unvarying and unfailing source of revenue alone can give. Hence the call is urgent, the need is pressing for an increase of the endowment fund. Only this will place the infant institution in that condition of finan- cial stability, which alone can give security to its ex- istence, furnish the sap of its vitality, serve as an anchor of safety while its sails are spread before the winds, infuse into its activities the essence of life and progress, and open for those who are perpetually encircled by the " canopy of night's extended shade " views of glad promise in the coming time.
During the past year about $30,000 have been re- ceived for this purpose in the shape of donations and bequests. An additional sum of $70,000 is needed to complete the endowment fund and place the estab- lishment on a sound financial basis, and we are forced to appeal to the public for this sum of money. With- out it not only the managers will find themselves in the midst of a sea of perplexities, but the growth of the kindergarten and its efficiency will be seriously threatened.
Confidently and most fervently we urge this matter upon the attention of all benevolent persons, and especially upon the notice of those among them who are intrusted with the stewardship of riches and who are forming plans for putting their surplus where it will do the greatest possible amount of good. In
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selecting the objects for their benefactions they have before them for their guidance positive facts gathered in the field of experience, and not mere verbal propo- sitions. The kindergarten is no longer an experi- mental venture of doubtful utility or of remote possibilities. It has been in operation for five years and has demonstrated by its fruits the necessity of its existence and the potency of its holy mission. It has laid the foundation of a system of early training and rational education, the chief purpose of which is to open for the recipients of its benefits the surest possible way out of the wilderness of affliction, to ameliorate their condition in every respect and to brighten the dull gloom of their future —
And make the destined road of life Delightful to their feet.
It has brought to light the value and efficacy of Froebel's methods of physical, mental and moral development as applied to the blind, and has inau- gurated a new era of reform and progress in all directions. Whosoever doubts the accuracy of this statement, let him visit the kindergarten in Jamaica Plain. An inspection of the premises and a rigid examination of the work of this infant school will convince him, that through its agency scores of tiny sightless children have been saved from the woes of misery and neglect or from the dangerous effects of indulgence, and are tenderly brought up in a little world of peace and contentment, from which sweet-
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ness and light never fail to radiate and where parental care is the ruling principle, kindness the schoolmistress and love the reigning law.
Here they rest, as after much turmoil A blessed soul doth in Elysium.
To insure both the continuance and the extension of these inestimable advantages and to render them accessible to those who hunger for them is the solemn duty of every just and fairminded person. For all honest and conscientious people, who cannot but feel that whatever concerns the welfare of man- kind is not foreign to them, it is a sacred obligation to spare no efforts towards securing this precious boon for the most hapless of their fellow beings.
In urging the adoption of vigorous measures for the speedy completion of the endowment fund, I am fully aware of the arduousness of the task and of the manifold difificulties which have to be encountered in its performance. The fact, that so much has already been done for the blind in various ways may deter some of their best and most consistent friends from pressing their claims energetically. For myself, I have no choice. Much as I shrink from occupying constantly the post of solicitor of funds, and ardently as I desire to follow my natural tastes and inclina- tions and to be allowed to attend to my work quietly and far away from the ken of the public, I have to lay aside my feelings and preferences. Be my aversions and wishes what they may, it is impossible for me
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either to rest or to keep silent when the cries of the stricken lambs of the human fold ring so loudly in my ears. I must speak for them and advocate their cause to the best of my ability, and in doing so, I ad- dress my closing words to one and all of you, men and women of Boston, citizens of Massachusetts, friends of the blind in all parts of New England and the United States.
To your helpful ministries I recommend the kinder- garten with all the strength and earnestness that I can command. Its usefulness and success depend mainly upon your liberality. You have it in your power to invigorate it and render it a fountain of gladness and a perennial source of good by providing for it a substantial and ample foundation, or to stint it by withholding the necessary aliment and starve it and dwarf it. Pray do not fail to lend it your gen- erous aid, for without this nothing can save it from stagnation and deterioration. In behalf of many little sightless boys and girls who cannot plead their own case I implore you to bestow promptly on their be- loved garden your offerings, so that its full growth and fruition may be hastened. In the name of suf- fering humanity I ask you to open your hearts and purses and complete this shrine of mercy, invoking thereby the blessings of heaven upon your heads.
What shall your verdict be?
Will you have the hardihood to deny to these benighted children the lamp of life.'*
1^1
Mrs. Warren B. Potter Fund.
If over the gates of paradise
Bright emblems of virtues stand,
Methinks, above them all, mine eyes
Some day shall see an open hand.
— Seacrook.
It is a cause of heartfelt pleasure and great encour- agement to be able to report, that during the past year another munificent donation has been received and a new name — that of Mrs. Warren B. Potter — has been added to the list of the generous helpers and bountiful benefactors of the little sightless chil- dren.
Mrs. Potter was one of the prominent visitors, who attended the entertainments given on Washington's birthday at the parent institution in South Boston for the benefit of the kindergarten. Accompanied by a friend, she arrived quite early and expressed a desire to see me. In the course of our brief interview she manifested deep interest in the infant school and was very eager to ascertain whether we had any re- liable source of income for the support of the second household which we were striving to organize therein. On being told that we had none, she remarked, that it seemed very important to her, that steps should be taken at once to raise a permanent fund for that pur- pose, and that she would contribute her share towards it. To my inexpressible delight she informed me on the following day, that she had decided to give the sum of $20,000 to the kindergarten with the sole con-
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dition attached to the gift, that the principal should be safely invested and kept intact forever, and that only the income should be used for current expenses. Before the end of the week she sent her cheque for the above named amount.
On the receipt of this munificent gift a due ac- knowledgment was made, which read as follows : —
South Boston, March i, 1892.
My dear Mrs. Potter : — I use no formal phrase in saying, that words fail me to express my emotions of profound gratitude and delight on receipt of your welcome favor of the 24th ultimo with its most munificent present of twenty thousand dollars, ($20,- 000) for the kindergarten for the blind. Believe me, no metaphy- sician ever felt the deficiency of language so much as I do now. But if I cannot interpret in adequate terms our sense of obliga- tion to you, I am sure, that our deep gratitude towards you will ever be enrolled in eternity's own book. May heaven, which in- spired your noble mind with the thought of thus aiding our infant school, mete out to you in fullest measure the blessings, which such deeds always bring to their authors. I thank you from the bottom of my heart not only for the most generous material aid which you have bestowed on the cause of the education of the blind, but also for the moral encouragement, which your munifi- cence gives to those who are devoted to its advancement.
Yours is truly a princely gift, and it will be known as the Mrs. Warren B. Potter Fund for all time to come. In compliance with your wishes, your name will be withheld from the public ken ; but it will be indelibly engraved in the hearts of hundreds of sight- less children and their helpers and will adorn the annals of the kindergarten.
Believe me, dear Mrs. Potter, with renewed thanks and senti- ments of profound gratitude.
Most sincerely and respectfully yours,
M. Anagnos.
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Verily words could hardly give adequate utterance to our gratitude for such a gift, which was all the more precious because it was wholly voluntary and unsought. To quote Shakespeare, they seemed —
Too little for so great a debt.
Both by the magnitude of her donation and the keen foresight which prompted it, Mrs. Potter has earned the distinction of being counted as one of the most liberal and sagacious contributors to the fund of the kindergarten. In the ranks of the great benefactors of the little sightless children her place is second only to that of Miss Helen C. Bradlee. Following in the track of royal generosity she has joined the chorus of those to whom the blind of New England will always sing paeans of praise and thank; fulness. Deeds like hers are steps to heaven and cannot fail to imprint the names of their authors on the tablets of eternity with golden letters.
Mrs. Potter's gift is a beautiful tribute of tender affection to the memory of her late husband, as well as a testimony of the goodness of her heart and the nobility of her instincts. It is a grand offering fit for the sacred cause of humanity, a magnificent monu- ment of pure benevolence, which will endure for all time and shall ne'er fade —
While moon and sun and night and day the seasons tell.
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The Central or Main Building.
^HS ©Itnigt btrscbbinbct Icitbt bcm ISlich,
glcr borixiarts s'u^t tuic bitl 5« tl^un not^ iibtr blcibt.
— Goethe.
These words of the poet apply with peculiar fitness to the present advance of the kindergarten undertak- ing, and illustrate most strikingly the increase of its wants and the demands of its development.
The infant institution is far reaching in its aims and unbounded in its possibilities. It is an enter- prise of steady growth and constant progress. Hence whatever has thus far been accomplished in it is only a small part of what remains to be achieved. As Goethe puts it, —
To one who forward looks to what is left The little done soon dwindles into naught.
Until the plans are fully developed and carried out in all their details, each step gained must of necessity be made the starting point for further advancement ; and as we progress we must broaden our views and widen our scope of action.
To provide both shelter and the means of proper training for every one of the little sightless children, who had been persistently knocking at the door of the kindergarten for admission, was a matter of para- mount importance. This was our first duty. Beside it all other wants seemed of minor significance. Now that this inestimable blessing has been secured, the next thing in order is to finish the central or
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main building, of which a small part has already been erected. The completion of this structure is not merely a desiderahun but an absolute necessity for the full development and perfection of our scheme of education.
The plans for this building have been prepared with due care and much study. We are under great and lasting obligations for them to Mr. Walter R. Forbush, — an architect of practical experience and acknowledged skill, — who has made them for the kin- dergarten free of charge.
A careful examination of these plans will show, that pains have been taken to meet the wants and requirements of the pupils and to provide ample facil- ities and unusual conveniences for their physical and manual training, as well as for their intellectual and aesthetic culture.
The new edifice will be located between the two existing buildings, one of which overlooks Day and the other Perkins street.
The space in front will form an extensive lawn of about 20,000 feet in area.
The building will be four stories in height, includ- ing the basement, and will consist of three parts or sections, forming in plan, to use a comprehensive term, a double-headed T. It is divided through the centre, so that one half may be used for boys and the other for girls.
The front section will contain two workrooms, two offices, two reception rooms, and sixteen schoolrooms.
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The middle section will contain a spacious gymna- sium, twenty music rooms, and an audience hall capa- ble of seating about five hundred persons, with a stage, organ loft, and two ante-rooms.
In the rear section there will be a library, twenty music rooms, — four for teaching and the remaining sixteen for practising, — and several large work rooms.
As the first floor of the entire structure is to be about eight feet above grade, there will be no diffi- culty in having windows of full size in all the rooms of the basement.
The central portions of the fa9ade will show pro- jections on either side of the entrance extending to the level of the third floor.
A flight of twelve steps will lead to a large stone portico with Ionic columns, the roof of which will make a balcony level with the second story. The entrance from this will be formed by an arch extend- ing nearly to the third story.
The architecture of the entire structure, while dif- fering from that of the present buildings, will be in harmony with it.
A clear idea of the plan can be obtained from the engraving which is printed at the beginning of this report.
The central building will be connected with the others by means of a covered arcade, which will re- semble in form the segment of a circle. This addi- tion will be a great improvement to the general appearance of the whole structure and at the same
time will furnish protection to the children while passing to and fro from their schoolrooms.
Mr. Forbush has taken the utmost pains in devis- ing a system of heating and ventilation, which seems well-nigh faultless. It operates both by direct and in- direct methods.
In the conception of the principles and the arrange- ment of the details of the plan every effort has been made to insure the strictest economy in construction, the best artistic effect of the exterior, and the sim- plest and most convenient arrangement of the interior in accordance with the purposes, for which the build- ing is designed.
This edifice is so potent a factor in the normal and systematic growth of the kindergarten and will be such a valuable addition to the forces at work for the reconstruction and enlargement of our scheme of edu- cation, that the necessity of its speedy completion can hardly be overestimated. It is no exaggeration to affirm, that of all the buildings, with which the grounds of the infant institution are destined to be dotted in the fulness of its development, this one is of transcendent importance. Indeed it is the very soul and crown of the whole group of these structures, — the central foundation around which all others will cluster in perfect order and harmony. It constitutes the main spring which will supply the whole estab- lishment with the requisite motive power, the heart which will send vital force to every part of the organ- ism. Without it no large and decided step in ad-
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vance can be taken and no efforts at reform and real progress can prove fruitful.
It is superfluous to use further arguments in favor of the immediate completion of the central building. The need of this consummation is evident, the de- mand is imperative. There is a glorious opportunity for some of those who are favored with an abundance of wealth to build this grand temple to humanity and thereby raise to themselves a magnificent monument, which will prove as enduring as the pyramids of Egypt.
Who will help the cause of the blind in this way ?
Great-hearted, large-minded, benevolent men and women, this question is addressed to you with special emphasis. Who will respond to the cry of the little sightless children and bend his head to receive the crown, in which shall shine as pearls and diamonds the tears of joy and gratitude shed by those whom his generosity has blessed.'^
Chicago points with just pride to the numerous public benefactors, who during the past year have given nearly ^6,000,000 for the advancement of edu- cation and art in that city. These gifts are not only munificent but unequalled anywhere else in America. Where are the millionaires of Boston? Have they a clear sense of their social obligations.'* What are they doing for the community.? Are there not those among them who will minister to the wants of afflicted humanity and come to the assistance of an undertaking, the object of which is to work a com-
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plete revolution in the education of the bhnd, and place it on the broadest and most secure foundation ?
Helen's " Tea " in Aid of the Kindergarten.
Sweetner of life, and solder of society,
We owe thee much. Thou hast deserved from us
Far, far beyond what we can ever pay.
Oft have we prov'd the labors of thy love,
And the warm efforts of thy gentle heart,
Anxious to help. — Blair.
The "tea" given last May by Helen Keller in aid of the kindergarten was one of the most memorable events of a year in which these were not lacking. This occasion was so charming in its character and so rich in its fruits that it never will be forgotten by those who participated in it.
Helen's action in this matter, as in most of her generous deeds and benevolent undertakings, was entirely spontaneous. Not a request nor a hint was whispered to her. The idea was absolutely her own.
For a long time she had cherished an ardent desire to do something to increase the funds of the kinder- garten ; but she could not decide upon a feasible plan for the accomplishment of her object. Finally the thought suggested itself to her in this wise.
One day, while conversing with two of her young friends, Miss Rosalind Richards and Miss Caroline Derby, the subject of " fairs " and afternoon " teas " given, for benevolent purposes was brought up, and mention was made of the amount of net profits ob-
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tained from some of these occasions. In the course of this conversation the thought of holding an enter- tainment of this sort for the benefit of the Httle sightless children flashed across Helen's mind, and she instantly asked, " why can I not give a ' tea ' in aid of the kindergarten ? Money is needed for a new building, and we must help Mr. Anagnos to raise it." The young ladies approved heartily of her prop- osition and offered to do all in their power to put it to action and promote its success. They would sell tickets, flowers and candy and invite all their friends to be present.
Then and